Mists of a Dawning Sky
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: She's had enough of magic and enough of the lies. When the war ended she takes her godson and starts a new life for herself. However not even she expected to find love and possibly a new family in the process. Viper will have to learn to let her guard down, if only to give herself a second chance. FemHarry is Viper
1. Chapter 1

**As a belated birthday present from me to you (I turned 29 yesterday, joy) I'm posting several stories from the drabbles as full stories~! Enjoy!**

* * *

It said volumes that her first act upon losing her friends...well, Hermione, as she went chasing after Ron for being an idiot and leaving like he had...was to hit Gringotts covered by a hooded cloak and unceremoniously robbing her own vaults.

It had shocked her greatly upon learning she had _multiple_ vaults, not just the Potter Vault (apparently the one she had been using for years was the "trust" vault, since she hadn't know to claim the main one). The goblins had no idea, because she spent the better part of a week robbing each vault and selling off properties she didn't want. But not before she robbed those as well of anything remotely of value.

Everything was summarily moved to offshore accounts and bank vaults, all under mundane control.

She wouldn't trust a goblin as far as she could throw them, and the corrupt excuse of a Ministry was under the hands of the Death Eaters. She wouldn't put it past them to rob her after the war was over purely because they could.

That done, she allowed Hermione to find her while at the same time making arrangements to get a one-way ticket as far from England as humanely possible while making it _impossible_ to find her at all.

She found it disturbingly easy to use information against others, and it amused her to no end that she was quickly gaining a name for herself in the mundane underworld as "Viper the Information Broker".

Mostly because she was whittling away the Snatchers by exploiting something Hermione balked against using against Voldemort's idiots.

The Taboo was an ingenious peace of work, but Viper (she really, really liked that name and any connection to her birth one was starting to fade) was more than happy to tell the Familigias of the UK how to get their payback on the assholes who were disrupting their business, and that they didn't deserve any mercy whatsoever.

She found a lot of doors opened up to her after that.

After the final battle in the school, she did something that would have had England up in arms if they ever discovered it.

She spread word to the mafia families, the "good" ones that had a reputation for being mostly honest in their dealings and powerful enough that messing with them would have brought far more trouble than it was worth down on the heads of the corrupt Ministry if they tried to erase their memories, on how to find and enter the "magical underworld", right down to how one got through to Diagon, the Ministry and St. Mungo's.

Then she went straight to Andy's tiny Fidelius protected cottage and kidnapped her godson...and left England in the dust.

She refused to let Theo grow up in this hell hole if she had any say in it, and this gave Andy something to focus on _other_ than the death of her daughter.

* * *

Viper the Information Broker was one devious bitch. Or bastard. No one was entirely sure what gender they were, just that when they gave you information... for an exorbitant price, but at least when they gave you information it was either accurate or you'd get your money back and whoever gave them bad information quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a very terrifying and pissed off Mist... it was as close to accurate as possible.

Viper's network quickly learned the cardinal rules of dealing with the Mist. Either you sold them _accurate_ information, or as close as humanly possible, or they'd come after you like the wrath of god. Viper did not tolerate liars, and they really didn't tolerate traitors.

And the less said about how rich Viper was through insider trading and some very unusual business deals, the better.

Skies had tried to snag the Mist quite a few times, partly because they were powerful but also for the potential to be able to get their hands on the accounts, but Viper was too strong for any run of the mill Sky.

It was not a joke to state that the Viper was the strongest, most powerful Mist Flame alive.

 _In an undisclosed location, on an Unplottable track of land..._

"Mama!" said a happy five year old who's hair shifted through a multitude of colors before settling on a vibrant indigo.

"There's my little wolf. How was your day?" said Viper smiling. Not a smirk or a sneer, but an honest smile that only showed around this little bundle of light.

Andromeda had been devastated, finding someone had taken her grandson from her...at least until Viper made it known that the boy's Godmother had taken him away from a war torn country to protect him from being used against her. She hadn't liked it, not at all, but she accepted that the Witch-Who-Survives (Magic, she hated the titles they kept heaping on her even when she was long gone) had done the one thing to insure Teddy's safety and survival.

Her friends were _not_ happy with her at all. Then again she cut all ties save for the one with the twins who were the only ones who had even a vague idea how to contact her in the event they needed help leaving England permanently.

The two of them had narrowly avoided losing Fred, and as a result they had attached themselves rather firmly to her. They were the ones providing all the 'artifacts' to locate her and Teddy, because Molly Weasley was a force of nature that felt the overwhelming desire to smother anyone the same age of her children into a bubble, regardless of whether they wanted her mothering or not.

The closer she was to the person, the worse it was. _Especially_ if they were an orphan with no other family to turn to.

Viper made sure Theo (she refused to call him Teddy or any variant Andromeda might have come up with on the grounds it would be easy to slip up and be found) studied whenever she was out, and that he knew without a doubt that she loved him.

She had grown up without love, but she'd be damned if she let the same thing happen to her godson.

"I learned my ABC's today, mama!" said Theo proudly.

"In which language?"

The earlier he learned a language, the easier it was. She abused her ability to speak to snakes to do the same, but she wanted him to learn it on his own.

"Italian!"

"Good boy," she said smiling. "Now what does the little wolf want for dinner?"

"Pizza! With a lot of extra sauce!"

"Hmm, I don't know about whether we have enough sauce to make a little wolf happy... I suppose I'll have to order out," she said in mock thought.

Theo pouted.

"Mama's cooking is the bestest!"

"Theo, proper pronunciation is important."

Theo's puppy dog look would have melted ice. It was that bad.

"I like Mama's cooking best," he said in French.

She patted him on the head, and he climbed up onto her shoulder and lay his head on top of hers.

Viper removed her hood, changed her hair and removed the illusion of tattoos o her face.

"I suppose we'll have to go out then," she announced. "Now what are the rules for going out, little wolf?"

"Pick one color before we go and stay with it. No magic unless it's necessary. No pretty fires, because it would draw the wrong attention. Stick with Mama at all times, and when I'm lost use the port key back home and call from the mirror," said Theo dutifully.

"And if we get into trouble?"

"Call for a house elf and wait until you summon them again before I come out of hiding," he repeated without hesitation.

"Very good little wolf. So what color are we going to be today?"

"Indigo!" he said happily. His hair and eyes turned a brilliant shade of indigo that was very eye catching, and she smiled as she changed her shirt to match. Most people would assume it was dye.

With the fact no one knew what Viper really looked like, the two of them could enjoy a day out and no one would be the wiser to her presence.

She wanted to enjoy this peace until Theo was eleven. By then he would be safely ensconced in Beauxbatons which was still run by Madame Maxime.

The half giantess had been perfectly understanding about why she was enrolling her son in France rather than Scotland as was tradition.

While they were more strict on certain rules, after Maxime because Headmistress the prejudice had dropped to nonexistent levels. Mostly because no one was stupid enough to spout that crap around the Headmistress and not expect to be bodily thrown through the window. Which overlooked a cliff.

More than one idiot from England thought they could get away with harassing others over their bloodline or creature heritage only to find themselves 'corrected' via the woman hanging them upside down out the window in warning.

Besides, the ratio of girls to boys was horribly skewed towards the girls. Theo would thank her in a few years, and Sirius would be crowing while Remus looked on exasperated while silently cheering his son on.

Girls went for the sensitive hot boys that knew how to fight and wasn't a total misogynist that loved their mothers. And metamorphamagi always guaranteed that any child they had would be magically powerful...it was hard to worry about genetics when you could shift your form and if you had the right skills, your gender.

And she would teach Theo to protect himself. Once he was old enough, he would have to distance himself from her...because she's found her niche in the underworld and is loath to cut herself off from it.

* * *

She isn't crying, and she's not suffering from separation anxiety from sending Theo off to his magical education for the next seven years. Even if it means she has to go on an extended vacation whenever his summer and winter leave was up.

Maxime hugged the much smaller girl in her arms as Theo quickly integrated himself with his new roommates. She never once held anything from the woman who was going through the same thing all mothers did.

Any rivalry that could have been because the girl had gone to Hogwarts instead of their school went out the window after the war. This was a general who was sending off their child to a boarding school, one who had done everything in her power to keep him safe.

Maxime once more cursed Albus Dumbledore for turning this woman into a broken child without a second thought all because of some half-arsed prophecy. For his inability to realize what he was doing to a child who had never been allowed to experience the wonders of childhood innocence, even once. Just brief glimpses of what being whole could be like.

So no, she feels not a single iota of guilt hiding the fact Theo Noir is in fact Theodore Leo Lupin-Tonks-Black-Potter, the missing "heir" of the Black fortune.

Seeing him safe and happy, and able to be around other children for longer than a few hours, Viper reluctantly leaves. The longer she's around magic, the more the temptation to go home is.

This isn't her world. They had used her, reviled her, treated her like a bird in a cage that they could trot out whenever it amused them and left her for dead.

While the underworld wasn't for the faint of heart, in it she could be free. No one treated Viper like a glass doll to be coddled. No one dared to cross her or lie to her, because she made it clear she _hated_ liars.

She could be free, in a way she had only dreamed of.

And knowing Theo was safe in the school meant she could partially relax. She would come without a second's hesitation if anything happened...Maxime wouldn't dare hold that against her, but for now she was free to work.

Even if returning to that home made her want to bawl her eyes out, because there's no multi-colored head of hair to greet her with a cry of "Mama!" whenever she opens the door.

She needed a break. She could visit Mafia Land for a while and scout the place there.

* * *

Viper felt herself relax. Here she was just another Mist with a well deserved and terrifying reputation.

She visited the bar first, planning to get shit-faced before crashing in the rather modest, if very well guarded apartment complex she had been delighted to find online.

No one bitched about traps and the like if you bought a flat there, so long as it didn't mess with the traps and surprises of the other tenants.

"Now what's a pretty face like you doing here?" purred a smooth voice with the distinct flare of a Sun.

Viper scowled at him, before realizing belatedly she wasn't in her "Mist" disguise. Perhaps coming here after dropping Theo off for his second year wasn't such a smart move.

She could at least rebuff the annoying Sun she recognized immediately as Reborn without having to deal with his inept attempts to get into her pants.

Seriously, why was she always sexually harassed if she wasn't acting as Viper? Guys would come up to her, with or without Theo and bother her!

"If you're trying to get a bed warmer for the night, there's some very receptive Rains and two Lightnings three bars over. I'm not interested," said Viper flatly with a cross expression.

"Yes, but they're not as interesting as you," purred Reborn smugly.

"They also don't know who you are, and I know Viper. They dislike it when one of their best informants is compromised by a stupid Sun," she said bluntly.

"You're such a prickly Mist I would have mistaken you for a Cloud," he said smugly.

Viper glared at him.

"Let me put this in terms you can understand, _Reborn_ ," she hissed at him, her eyes flaring with Flames. Unseen she had no idea that the indigo eyes were briefly colored in orange. "Fuck off."

Reborn smiled at her, and if she had any interest in the man it would have made her heart flutter. He was sinfully handsome, even she would admit that much.

But she was Viper, and she knew perfectly well the sort of man Reborn was. He didn't think much of his "conquests" and if she was going to date anyone it would be an all or nothing. Besides, he was rather vicious and she didn't trust him anywhere near Theo.

"May I at least know your name?" he asked, tilting his head with a glint of amusement in his eyes. She barely kept herself from shivering.

"Call me Mystique," she lied, it coming out so smoothly it was hard to tell she wasn't telling him the truth.

She hated lies, but Mystique was the Marauder name Sirius had jokingly given her years ago. Even thinking of him made her heart hurt.

Reborn took her hand as she was about to leave.

"Well my Mysterious Mystique, until next time," he said with a light kiss on the back of her hand with his best mysterious stranger smile.

Some girls might kick themselves over turning someone like Reborn down. But Viper had been hurt too much and wasn't in the mood for some quick fling. And she had no doubt that's all she would be to him, just another fling.

Didn't mean she hated being flirted with. It was nice to know she had actually attracted the attentions of the notorious hit man. He was rather picky about his conquests.

Unseen by Viper, Reborn watched her leave.

The little Mist was rather prickly, but he wasn't the World's Greatest Hitman for nothing. He saw the pain hidden in her indigo depths, the sheer level of power behind her eyes. And that brief touch of her hand confirmed his suspicions when he saw that fleeting glance of vibrant orange.

The girl was an active Sky, and she likely didn't even realize it.

Reborn chuckled to himself, taking a long pull of his glass.

He would track down the minx sometime, and maybe have more success. For now he'd let her escape his grasp.

She found it strange, switching between Mystique and Viper like it was perfectly natural.

Mystique was a powerful, if unknown Mist who played the informant of Viper and got herself into some rather unusual situations.

Whereas Viper could do their thing and continue to expand their accounts and their network.

Theo was only fourteen when Viper was approached by the Checkerface who gave her a bad feeling.

The _I Prescelti Sette_ sounded like it would be a great honor and definitely acknowledged Viper as the strongest Mist alive...except she knew damn well something was up with it. She also was the only one of the group who had books who spoke of the Arcobelano with any detail.

Like the fact that while they were the strongest of a generation, they were also shoved into the bodies of infants and that never ended well for anyone. There was also no details of them _ever_ breaking the curse or returning to their true ages until it was time to pass the pacifiers on.

Viper does not like this, but the only other Mist anywhere near as strong as her was Theo, which she refused outright to get involved in this.

It wasn't in her nature to let others take the hit when she was perfectly capable of shouldering the pain herself. Her saving people thing had been thoroughly destroyed by this point, but when it came to keeping her precious people safe she wouldn't hesitate to dive in like a Lightning with Cloud tendencies.

Now if only she could find a way to keep that damn Reborn from flirting with her alternate identity as Mystique. The man was persistent as hell, despite the fact she wasn't interested!


	2. Chapter 2

It was rather odd, but while Luce was their Sky she rarely acted like it. In fact if Reborn had to say who acted like their proper Sky, he would automatically state it was Viper of all people. The Mist was as prickly as a porcupine and didn't like people getting information that could be used against them and was always charging them money for help outside of what was necessary to do the jobs.

But... whenever Skull would start bawling because Reborn or Colonello picked on him for being a coward, or if they were having a really shitty day where having support, even just having someone to listen to them like Fon when his old master died, Viper was always the first one there.

They bandaged up Skull and would murmur it was alright for him to be a coward, because at least he was honest about it and not trying to hide behind a brave face. More than once Reborn saw the Cloud hugging Viper so tightly you couldn't really see his face while they patted his head and let him. All without charging anything.

Hell, they held Fon when his master died and let him hide his crying from the world and never said a word. Luce, for all her powerful Sky attributes hadn't picked up once on his suffering.

However there was one cardinal rule Viper upheld, and that was that they never try to take the hood off. They were very, very paranoid about their real identity, to the point they got rather defensive about it.

Reborn quickly realized why the day it was accidentally blown off while Fon was fighting off some of Verde's new machines...one of which had a gust generator strong enough to produce hurricane winds.

Viper was walking past them, ignoring the two playing when Fon accidentally kicked the gust robot in their direction. Viper threw up their hands to protect their face from the winds and the debris...and failed to keep the hood up over their face.

Reborn stared, he couldn't help it. The girl he had been trying for years to let him in was right in front of him.

"Mystique?"

"Dammit you idiots, what the hell were you thinking playing with winds like that in an enclosed area?!" she yelled at Fon and Verde, who were too busy staring.

"Viper, your hood..." said Fon finally.

She reached up and found her hood missing, and cursed again. Her glare upped in intensity.

"I'm charging you both for this," she growled, before flipping it back over her face...until she realized that the winds had ripped it apart. Her annoyance and displeasure was pretty strong now.

Reborn however, was more interested in the fact he had apparently been chasing _Viper_ of all people for three years.

They weren't the only ones to give a doubletake when they realized her hood had been shredded. Skull blinked before hugging her.

"Why were you hiding your eyes? They're so pretty!"

"Mostly to hide from that ass Reborn," she said bluntly.

"I take offense to that," said Reborn.

"The first time I went to a bar and forgot my hood, you made a beeline for me and started chatting me up like I was another one of your conquests. I'm not stupid and I refuse to be just another notch on your belt," she growled. "And like I told you, Fuck Off."

Luce blinked, as if she was seeing Viper for the first time.

It would be a rough few months while they adjusted to Viper letting her hood down occasionally around them.

However that wasn't the only surprise she had in store for them. It was close to April when Viper suddenly starts asking odd questions about their missions. Namely how long they would take and immediately vetoing any that take longer than a week at most. Well, it's less vetoing and more she refuses to go with them, stating she has an unavoidable appointment that she will not cancel or reschedule.

"Honestly Viper, what the hell is so important you'd bail on a mission?" demanded Lal.

Viper glared at them, and since her hood was down you could feel the full force of it.

Sensing the curiosity of some very persistent Flames, she sighed.

"It's my son's birthday."

Stone silence.

"You have a son?" said Fon quietly.

"Theo. And that's all you're getting. He's a teenager, but he still loves his mother and he would come looking for me if I missed even a single birthday."

"Civilian?" asked Reborn.

Viper nodded.

"I've managed to keep him far away from our world, and I refuse to let him get caught up in it if possible."

"When's his birthday?" asked Luce, eyes wide with curiosity.

"April 17th. He'll be fourteen this year."

"I guess meeting the kid is out of the question," said Reborn, eyeing Viper.

Viper scoffed at the mere idea.

"Reborn is a damn chaos magnet and you always carry guns. Lal is way too uptight and wouldn't fit in a teenager's birthday party. Verde would be too risky the second Theo does anything remotely interesting or unusual. Luce would ask too many questions I am not answering. Fon and Skull... you two _might_ be safe enough to bring."

Fon perked up at that, and Skull blinked.

"Why us?" asked Skull.

"You're a former civilian, and you have an 'interesting' job that any boy would love to hear more about. Fon at least understands the concept of privacy and knowing when to drop the subject."

Fon looked rather pleased at that assessment.

"If we let you go to see your son, will you agree to come back to the mission after?" asked Lal seriously.

"So long as you all drop it, yes."

"Very well, Skull and I will escort you to see your son."

"What?!"

"Well it would look bad on us if we allowed our Mist to be harmed while visiting her son, wouldn't it?" said Fon, smiling at her.

Viper stared at him and Skull both.

"What."

"Either deal with an escort, or deal with _all_ of us going," said Lal.

"Fine. But only them."

* * *

"Mama!"

The fourteen year old with vivid purple hair tackled Viper who had an honest to god _smile_ on her face.

"Did you really think I would miss your big day, little wolf?"

Theo looked around her to see the two men.

"Who are they?" he asked suspiciously.

"These are...friends... of mine. Theo, meet Fon and Skull. Fon is a very talented martial artist and Skull is a stuntman."

"What kind of stunts?" asked Theo.

"The kind uncle Padfoot would have crowed about and demanded lessons for," deadpanned Viper.

"Oh. You mean like the ring of death sort of thing were they drive around in that ball?" asked Theo.

Skull grinned.

"Yup."

Theo grinned at his mother. Viper didn't need to look to know what Theo was thinking.

"Wait until presents, little wolf. Then you can bug him."

Skull was pretty pleased having intelligent questions being asked by Theo. Ever since he found out Sirius had a motorcycle he had been begging for one.

Viper had caved only after she made damn sure the one she bought for him was loaded with so many spells and runes that it was a damn tank and she knew for a fact he could survive it even without a helmet on.

She had done far crazier things than drive a motorcycle, even one as small as the one she got Theo, at his age. Outflying a mother dragon came to mind.

"You seem relaxed."

"Well, not having to hide helps greatly. Theo might not be my son by blood, but he is in every way that matters."

"Where are his parents?"

"Dead. There was a minor war in England and he was born near the end of it. His parents died for the side that won, but I wasn't about to trust the same idiots who caused the mess in the first place because of some ridiculous prejudice they had against his father. So I took him and raised him far, far from England where I knew he would be safe and happy."

Viper was definitely more relaxed. She normally wouldn't offer this sort of information without a very large price tag and no small amount of blackmail.

Fon had to admit, Viper was very beautiful...and it was even more obvious when she wasn't trying to hide from the world. He didn't know why she lost her trust in others, but he was glad she trusted him, however slight.

Seeing her around her son made him think of possibilities, if he was willing to work for them.

Reborn was a fool, thinking Viper cared enough about his open overtures to romance. She saw through his little games and wanted nothing to do with him.

Then again, he was shallow enough not to notice that Viper had been hurt before and likely had no idea what romance was. Someone had broken her trust often enough that most of Reborn's attempts would simply fall flat.

If he wanted to try and court Viper...he would have to be subtle and slow about it.

Well, he didn't mind a challenge.

Theo was over the moon when he saw the bike, and so was Skull. Especially when the kid practically begged him for lessons on how to ride it. He knew how to maintain one (part of the agreement was that he would learn how to do maintenance if she _did_ get a bike for him), but riding it was vastly different from a broom or a pegasus.

Of course then Theo displayed that he was a Marauder's son through and through.

"So is this the same Skull you told me about before? The one with the unresolved sexual tension with Reborn?"

Fon would openly admit to choking on his drink.

Viper, however, cackled.

"Oh dear Merlin, it explains so much!" she said howling with laughter.

Fon was too busy trying to clear his lungs...but when he did, he set the tone for what they were going to do once they got back.

"I wonder if Reborn even realizes it yet."

"The endless string of women, the fact he keeps picking on Skull whenever he's irritated..." said Viper, cracking up.

"We are so bringing it up when we get back," said Fon, hiding his laughter.

Seeing the two of them laughing, Theo had an even bigger smile on his face. It had been far too long since he saw his mother this happy. But it looked like she hadn't figured it out for herself yet, and he knew how stubborn she could be. Instead of bringing it up, Theo handed Fon a number.

"What's this?"

"It's so you know what to do and what to avoid if you try to date her. Mama's really stubborn and she's never really connected to anyone on a personal level in a very long time. If I tried to point it out she'll only get defensive about it and take forever to admit it to herself. It doesn't help she had very little idea of what love is, outside of the kind you get from family."

Fon blinked, before a sly smirk came onto his face. One that Theo shared.

"I think we're going to get along very well, little wolf."

"And I think you'll be good for my mother. Be sure to send pictures of how your friends react when you mention what I said about Skull and Reborn."

"You are indeed your mother's son," snickered Fon.

* * *

 _Back at base..._

Fon was holding a camera as Viper dropped the little "revelation" Theo had given them. She waited for Reborn to start in on Skull because he wouldn't stop crowing about Theo and his natural skill at driving a bike.

"For the love of money, will you two get a room? The unresolved sexual tension between you two is really getting annoying!" said Viper loudly.

Dead silence.

Reborn stared at her openly horrified. Skull who had been warned beforehand that they were doing this to get Reborn to stop going after him, looked only a little disgusted.

Lal was the first to speak, but you could openly hear her trying desperately trying not to laugh her ass off. Fon was still taking multiple pictures.

"She has a point you know. You do tend to pick on Skull a lot, and you pay far too much attention to him," said Lal.

Luce giggled.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Reborn? Skull?"

Verde was grinning evilly now.

"That does explain the long string of women you like to talk about. It's almost like you're in denial or still in the closet..."

Reborn was pissed, but Skull had an odd look on his face. He noticed the mischievous gleam in Viper's eyes and hid a grin.

"What's the matter Reborn-sempai, afraid to bat for the other team?" he purred.

That was enough for Reborn. He got away from Skull and looked openly horrified at the idea. Viper was cackling her ass off.

But now Skull had ammunition to keep Reborn far away from him. Besides, it was about damn time he had something to hold over that asshole Sun!

Viper helped him up, and Skull hid a grin. That was hilarious.

* * *

Reborn was being extra annoying in trying to get into her pants. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that whenever he failed, he often found a new woman to walk home with... that rarely left before morning at least.

If he couldn't hold himself back to court her properly, then she had zero interest in him at all.

However while she was unfamiliar with the idea of love outside of the familial sense, she had the distinct impression one of the others was trying to court her.

Which was ridiculous, because who in the name of magic would want to try and court her outside of idiots like Reborn?

Except... every week she found flowers of all sorts on her pillow, sometimes entire branches of them. More than that, there was small gifts of her favorite foods like treacle tart, or strawberries. It was baffling, and she was afraid to find out who her secret admirer was.

Because if she discovered their identity, it would mean acknowledging the fact she was being courted at all. The very idea of love was terrifying.

She could handle the love she received from Theo, and those she left behind in the magical world when the war ended. But romantic love?

She had never come close to being that important to anyone, and she was always on guard for those who would use it against her. Better to be alone than to be betrayed in a way that could break her.

Viper never paid any notice to the eyes that watched her. Nor did she care about the annoyed looked Reborn was giving Fon for quite some time.


	3. Chapter 3

What had started as "playful" jibes in training suddenly turned rather murderous. Fon and Reborn had been sparring, with the Sun having a bit of a grudge against the Storm for reasons neither were willing to admit out loud. At least not within Viper's hearing.

Hearing Lal's cry of alarm when Reborn's shots came a little too close because Fon had dodged, her patience became shot.

"That's enough, both of you!" she said angrily, dousing both idiots with her Rain flames.

It didn't help to cool them off, but it made them turn their ire to her for a moment.

"What has gotten into you two idiots? I'd expect this from Reborn, but not you Fon!" said Lal angrily.

Reborn gave Fon a caustic glare, while Fon maintained a fake tranquility.

"He's butting in where he shouldn't."

"I would think the fact your advances have been repeatedly and firmly rebuffed would be enough of a hint," Fon shot back.

Lal stared at them, before she realized what was going on.

"Oh god. You two idiots are fighting over the same girl!"

"It's not fighting when you know for a fact she has zero interest in your rival," said Fon.

"What's going on?" asked Viper, her hood firmly in place.

"These two morons are fighting over the same woman and it's starting to spill over," said Lal.

Viper's expression was impossible to read, but the look she shot Reborn said volumes.

"Honestly, why are you even bothering Fon over this? Aren't all women just conquests to you?"

Reborn shot a foul look at Fon, who radiated smugness.

"And you! Why are you letting Reborn get to you like this? If you're really that interested in her, then admit it to her directly!" said Viper.

"It's...complicated. And I've been warned that small gestures would work far more effectively than big ones that declare my intent."

Theo had been quite clear on that front. Fon was more likely to win her over with small things like flowers left discreetly where she was sure to find them and foods he knew his mother liked than big plays like the ones Reborn kept hinting at. Certain events like her birthday and other holidays were good times to leave more obvious hints of his interest, at least until she realized her own feelings towards him.

His mother had a firm idea of what she wanted in romance. That is, if they were really serious about their intent then they had better be prepared to put up _real_ effort into winning her over, even if it meant that they would have to put up with all the barriers she placed around her heart and it looked like it was going nowhere fast.

If they weren't willing to do that much, then she had no interest in humoring them.

Viper looked at Fon with an odd expression.

"Somehow I have the feeling you're more likely to win this girl over than Reborn, considering most of his overtures are so hollow and fake anyone with sense will realize it."

Reborn looked openly offended.

"I am not hollow or fake!"

Lal snorted.

"I have to agree with Viper on this one. You're only ever interested in a quick roll in the hay and not a real relationship. Short term, yeah you might have a chance... but long term Fon is more likely to get her," said Lal.

Reborn didn't look pleased with that assessment. It was clear that unless it looked like he had zero chance in landing this girl, he wasn't going to give up.

Which meant he was more than likely to drive her into Fon's arms than actually succeed.

"Some girls aren't looking for a one-night stand. They want real love and commitment, not a fling with no strings attached. So either decide whether you want to go that far for someone you barely know, or move aside for Fon," said Viper unsympathetic.

Fon knew very well Viper fell firmly into the category of wanting a long-term relationship, not some quick fling. With her looks she could have had any number of men in her bed... yet she remained celibate and put more effort into being a mother for her son.

Reborn would openly admit defeat when Viper quite strongly turned his offer for a date down. Mostly because he finally realized she wanted nothing to do with him unless he was willing to commit to her and only her.

He'd rather be free of such attachments than tie himself down.

* * *

Viper saw a bouquet of flowers on her bed...along with a box. She checked today's date and belatedly realized it was her birthday.

Luce had tried to wheedle the date out of the Mist, but she had remained firm against the woman's hollow enthusiasm.

And yet someone had found out and delivered a present.

Seeing the card on the flowers, she picked it up to read. It was in Latin, which she spoke rather fluently after years of using a mock version of it in Hogwarts.

 _To the woman who's never had a chance to love, I hope you have a very pleasant birthday – Your secret admirer_

She was never happier she was alone than when she realized she was openly blushing. It didn't help when she opened up the box to find some simple, if beautiful jewelry like small earrings and a necklace.

Her blush only grew stronger as she consulted one of her books to find out the 'meanings' behind the flowers she was given. She wasn't that well versed in Victorian flower language, not that she really needed it.

Yellow Chrysanthemums, for a secret admirer.

Hyacinth, for sincerity.

Ivy, for fidelity.

Jasmine, for grace and beauty.

Magnolia, for dignity.

Red tulips, for declaration of love.

Violets, for faithfulness.

The fact that the necklace and earrings were designed as jasmine said volumes. Whoever was sending her these things thought she was graceful and beautiful.

Her face was solid red as she considered the meaning behind the flowers.

Her secret admirer was basically telling stating without saying in words that he was intending to seriously court her, and that he would be faithful and treat her with dignity if he succeeded. That he openly considered her beautiful without using words she had come to believe never applied to her in the first place.

It was like someone knew just the right words to say for an opening attempt into her heart.

Cautiously, she looked at the necklace and wondered what to do with it. Then she figured, what the hell, it was her birthday. She deserved to feel wanted for once and put it on.

Feeling the weight of the necklace made her look in the mirror.

It felt strange, almost foreign. For a single brief moment she felt like any other girl on their birthday with someone trying to attract her attention with small romantic gestures.

And then reality reasserted itself when she got a text from Theo.

Today was her day... but she would not celebrate it, outside of a small party with Theo later.

* * *

Fon observed Viper the entire day...and he knew she had definitely noticed his 'big' gesture of affection because she kept briefly touching her neck. It was small, almost hard to really notice, but considering he was observing her discreetly and with some intent he saw it.

And, after a brief moment he spotted a gold chain, and mentally congratulated himself for getting the help of her son Theo.

The boy was an absolute gold mine and he knew _exactly_ how to get his mother's approval without getting in trouble for it later. He wanted her to be happy, and he could sense that Fon was honorable.

Unlike some people...Fon had a very uncharitable thought towards his comrade Reborn.

He had finally quit with pursuing Viper, though he still flirted with her since it was in his nature. She rarely paid half a mind to his flirting...after all, she could tell he wasn't the sort of person she wanted to pursue seriously.

He was also very, very glad Theo had made a list of flowers to send in a proper bouquet to his mother. He might have sent roses or something without realizing the meaning behind the flowers.

Theo was an imp who was more than happy to set up his mother. Especially since it meant he wouldn't have to worry about her verifying his own love life.

Considering she had deliberately sent him to a school that was more likely to house girls than boys, he doubted Theo had anything to worry about.

"That reminds me, Theo sent me a text this morning," said Skull suddenly.

Viper had a bad feeling about this.

"Why would Viper's son send you a text?" said Reborn.

"Probably because he openly suspected she wouldn't do anything special today outside of their usual private dinner," said Skull.

"Explain Lackey."

Skull took out a badly wrapped present, but at least he paid some attention to what she liked.

"Happy birthday Viper!"

Dead silence, except for Fon smirking.

"Wait... _today_ is your birthday? Why didn't you say anything?" said Luce almost hurt.

Viper scowled. She was going to hit Theo with a tickling hex for this.

"It's no big deal. I've never celebrated my birthday, even when I was a child," said Viper.

"That's ridiculous. Who doesn't want to celebrate their birthday?" said Luce.

 _The kind of person who was never allowed to celebrate it,_ Fon thought to himself.

Theo didn't know the details, but he did briefly hint that Viper had a less than happy childhood. One that continued on through her teen years, which was why she didn't trust others so readily.

Luce looked fully prepared to throw a belated party, but Viper put an end to that.

"No Luce. I have no intention of dealing with that wasteful headache so late. At most I'll just have dinner with my son and that will be the end of it," said Viper. "It's not worth celebrating anyway."

Luce openly pouted, even if Viper did accept Skull's gift with a light hug.

The Cloud looked rather pleased that Viper didn't bite his head off for accidentally revealing her birthday to someone Viper barely tolerated.

But Fon wouldn't let Viper leave for her dinner without something from him.

Viper barely had any warning when he lightly kissed her on the cheek.

"Fon, what...?" she said bewildered, eyes wide with shock.

Fon's smile was as cryptic as ever.

"Would you rather it was from Reborn?"

"God no. I would have slapped him if he tried," she replied without thinking.

Mostly because the ass would have tried to kiss her on the lips instead of the cheek.

"Consider that a belated birthday present from me then," he said smiling.

Viper was definitely blushing, which just made her cuter in Fon's eyes. Hearing her stammer as she left to visit Theo, he considered today a complete success.

* * *

 _In Paris..._

"Mama, why are you blushing like that?" asked Theo mischievously.

"Never you mind, little wolf. How has school been? Gotten any girlfriends yet?"

Theo ducked his head.

"I've been dating this one girl who's two years older than me. She's really nice and likes that I was up front and open about the fact it's nothing more than a brief fling for the two of us. In fact I think I've seen a few of her friends giving me similar looks after they heard me say that."

Viper chuckled.

"Good boy. Girls will appreciate honesty like that, and being upfront in what you want in a relationship will go a long way to a solid foundation. Just remember, when you finally start getting past snogging you had better wear protection."

"Mum!" said Theo mortified. Viper's chuckle was a bit darker.

"Well it's something your Uncle had to learn the hard way after a rather terrifying pregnancy scare from a girl he slept with that had an older brother in Ravenclaw," said Viper unrepentant.

Theo rolled his eyes.

"Please, we both know I'm more responsible than Uncle Padfoot."

"And you have all the adorable charm of your father," she shot back. Theo ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Mum..." he whined.

Viper hid a smile behind her glass of wine.

"Speaking of dating, where did you get that necklace?" said Theo 'innocently'.

He knew perfectly well where she got it and from whom. He had helped Fon pick out the flowers and the jewelry set personally. But his mother needed all the hints she could get to realize her own feelings when it came to dating.

She still didn't understand why she almost always got mobbed when she went around with her hood down. It was one of the reasons why Theo had such uncharitable thoughts towards one Albus Dumbledore, regardless of all the "good" he did.

His mother had no idea how beautiful she was, or that people might actually think of her as a potential lover without running into a brick wall laced with barbed wire. That there were those who genuinely wanted to care for her without anything in return.

Viper's blush came back at full force.

"Never you mind, little wolf!" she said at an odd pitch.

Theo practically grew devil horns.

"Oh-ho, Mama as a secret admirer!"

She pinched his cheeks.

"That's enough sass out of you young man... unless you want me to spread your baby pictures all over Beauxbatons? I still have _plenty_ of them that I've never had the chance to show off," said Viper viciously.

Theo grinned back.

"Then I won't give you my present," he shot back.

Viper took the box he handed her... and the second she opened it her face went blank.

"It's a frog."

"It's a magical frog. Cost me three sickles and the poor thing was practically dried out because the idiot at the store didn't refill his water dish."

The frog croaked, before hopping up her arm to sit firmly on her shoulder. Several of the females around her shrieked in open horror, and Theo grinned. Viper was unmoved. She had dissected frogs and toads before, and she was usually the one who found Neville's toad Trevor before the war.

"Did you give it a name?" she asked, not even noticing the amphibian on her shoulder.

"His name is Fantasma the wonder frog. Because my Mum is absolutely fantastic and deserves a cool pet," said Theo proudly.

"You are incorrigible."

Theo grinned.

It wouldn't be until later when Viper found that "Fantasma" had a rather unique ability. It could turn into a 'snake' creature and it latched onto her Flames to the point she could literally float. Trust her son to find such a useful pet for her, and she still retained her parselmouth ability so she could at least understand what things Fantasma liked to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

"Verde, if you don't get off that computer and get some damn sleep, I will be very cross with you and hide all your electronics," said Viper irate.

She could see the bags under his eyes and the fact he had trouble focusing.

Verde scoffed at the threat...right up until he found himself in an illusion and locked in a room with a bed and no obvious escape. So in an effort to try and fool Viper, he laid down and pretended to fall asleep. At least, that was the plan.

He was out cold after a few moments of hitting the pillow, a loud snore audible from the bed. Viper snorted, before using her illusions to make sure he was covered up and his glasses removed.

Of course that wasn't the end of it. Far from it.

Reborn blinked when Viper started sitting food down from the kitchen, all of it home made and quite fresh.

"What is this?" he demanded.

"It's called a home cooked meal, you heathen," said Viper. "Restaurants care more about flavor than health, so feel free to take it home with you."

Skull certainly didn't care...once given permission he descended on the food with enthusiasm. Fon was rather pleased there was even some rice and chopsticks for him.

"Why?"

"You're getting rather pudgy from take out and microwaved meals," she said with an 'innocent' smile. "Believe me, I would rather feed you and everyone else than have to deal with you slowing us down because you allowed yourself to get fat."

Fon barely hid his smirk behind his sleeve at Reborn's look.

Reborn pointedly looked at his clothes, which were quite form fitting and only emphasized his physique. He didn't do off the rack.

"You are starting to develop something of a double chin, Reborn-sempai," said Skull chortling. He squawked at the fork Reborn threw at him.

"No attempted murder at the table," scolded Viper.

It was then that Fon realized what she was doing.

Viper was _mothering_ them all. Skull was just the first victim of it, and now Verde had been included.

Well, he'd have to make sure she never got it into her head to mother him as well. It would only make courting her that much more difficult.

It took Reborn and Lal a few more days of that behavior before they cottoned on to the same thing he realized. Reborn had a rather baffled look on his face when it hit him, and Lal just looked irritated but didn't call Viper on it.

Fon wondered if this had anything to do with the 'talk' Viper had with her son Theo.

 _A Short call sometime later..._

" _Well... I did mention I was dating already,"_ said Theo thoughtfully.

Fon pinched his nose. Of course... that would have told Viper that her son was growing up to be an adult, which made her mothering instincts demand that she latch onto someone else to make the transition easier.

And she decided to latch onto her comrades because their job wasn't the easiest in the world and they were all entirely too stubborn.

He was going to have to step up his courtship of Viper if he wanted to avoid being shoved into the same category as Reborn had fallen into.

"Any idea of what I should do for Halloween then?"

Fon could practically _feel_ the wince on the other end.

" _Either give her some space, or let her know she can lean on you for the day. Halloween and my mother have some rather...bad blood... between them."_

"How can you have bad blood with a holiday?" asked Fon.

Theo helplessly explained.

" _Her parents were murdered trying to protect her on that day, and she spent six years of being the one to deal with one serious crisis after another every Halloween while she was still in boarding school away from her...relatives."_

"Like what?"

" _Well when she was eleven a dangerous animal was set loose in the castle and broke into a girl's bathroom and nearly killed someone. She managed to distract it long enough to knock it out, but the teachers didn't show up until after it was over with. And when she was fourteen she was dragged into a tournament that was only for 'of age' students who were in their last year of schooling and was more or less forced to participate against her will against teens three to four years older than she was. And all of the tasks were life-threatening,"_ admitted Theo.

Fon winced. Yeah, she did have bad luck when it came to Halloween then.

"Any suggestions?"

" _Bring her some food she'll enjoy and a movie, and just be there for her. Possibly some alcohol if you want to try your luck... not wine, but something stronger like scotch or whiskey. Considering how many bad things happened on that holiday she might try to drink away the memories. Though I have no idea what would happen if she gets drunk...she always stuck to light wine when she was around me and never had more than a glass or two."_

"Thanks for the advice," said Fon.

" _Word to the wise, avoid horror movies. You might accidentally trigger a bad memory."_

Theo was a godsend.

* * *

Viper was not in a good mood. She hated Halloween and it had only gotten stronger the older she became.

So hearing her doorbell ring and seeing Fon, her foul mood was pretty damn obvious.

"What do you want Fon?"

"I come bearing food and strong alcohol. Theo warned me that you might need some company today."

"That boy is getting entirely too meddlesome," said Viper, letting Fon in. She noted he had the entire _Lord of the Rings_ set.

She had read the books, but didn't have the time to watch the movies. She heard they were good though.

After they had dinner, which was some of her favorites and a few glasses of the whiskey Fon had brought with him, they settled in to watch the first movie.

Right around the time Viper saw the Ringwraiths, and had more than a few glasses of liquor, Fon noticed her shivering as if caught by some memory she definitely didn't want to come out. He slowly and calmly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He made very sure to telegraph what he was doing so she didn't get upset with him for it.

By the second movie, Viper was openly leaning against him without even realizing it. She was definitely drunk, but still coherent enough to remember who was there. She almost fell asleep by the time the second movie ended.

Fon cautiously maneuvered his arms around her to carry her to the bedroom. It was doubtful she would make it through the third movie, which was considerably longer than the first two.

He thought her asleep when he laid her down and covered her with the blankets.

Except he was proven wrong when her hand latched onto his sleeve.

"Stay. Please..." she whispered.

She didn't have any chairs that could possibly be comfortable enough to doze in. Not that there was any space for him to bring one in. Instead Fon sat on the edge of the large bed and felt gratified that Viper curled against him, practically using his lap as a pillow.

She had a strong grip, for someone so light and frail looking. And her blush was positively addicting when she woke up the next morning only lightly hung over and realized the position he was in.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered into her ear. A light kiss on the cheek made her face look like it was on fire.

"Oh god... what did I do last night?" she said in mortification.

"Aside from drink a little too much and fall asleep against me, nothing. Though you asked me to stay when I brought you in here..." said Fon.

Viper looked absolutely embarrassed. Fon kept his silence, knowing that she was a very private woman who didn't see the point in letting others in outside her close family.

However seeing her bangs cover her face, he lightly brushed aside the errant strands, revealing confused eyes.

Theo wasn't kidding when he said his mother had no idea how to handle it when someone was openly attracted to her as a woman.

* * *

Viper managed to keep her silence over what happened during Halloween quiet, but Fon did detect a distinct blush whenever they were alone. Especially when he admitted to being the one who sent her the flowers and the necklace she never took off.

However he was definitely pleased Viper didn't try to mother him like the others. Skull didn't seem to mind, and Verde barely noticed outside of being mildly irritated when she forced him to eat or sleep.

Lal and Reborn tolerated it, but they weren't exactly open to the sort of care Viper was giving them. They didn't stop her though, since it was absolute proof she actually gave a damn about what happened to them. And Luce... well, Viper seemed to avoid her for some reason.

It didn't help that during Christmas, Luce decided to play matchmaker for some inane reason.

Reborn was very unhappy being caught under the mistletoe with Skull, to the amusement of everyone else... especially since it was the 'special' kind that forced him to stay put until he kissed the Cloud.

Luce didn't know where Viper got such a delightful idea, but she was all for it.

Viper's face was so red it was practically steaming when Fon deliberately caught her under the same door, and Lal watched with dark satisfaction...and a camera. Apparently she didn't like the fact Viper was mothering her at all, and found this as some sort of karmic payback.

Still, Viper was able to look him in the eye when Fon kissed her not on the cheek, but on the lips.

She couldn't stop blushing the entire day because of it, and he didn't pressure her into a second attempt.

Not that he could, because she avoided that door like the plague until the mistletoe was removed.

Under the ruse of making sure she didn't spent Christmas Day alone, since she had no intention of staying in Luce's home when she was barely coaxed to spend Christmas Eve with them in the first place, Fon followed her back to the apartment she rented.

He felt positively vindicated that the small steps Theo insisted was necessary worked when she shyly pulled him into a kiss of her own free will without any alcohol or trickery involved.

* * *

 _New Year's Day..._

Luce was the first to realize the 'change' between Fon and Viper, because she squealed and insisted on pulling Viper and for some reason Lal into the other room to get all the juicy details.

But this was Viper. She wasn't the sort of person who would have a heavy make out session in her home and tell about it, especially to Luce who she could barely stand, and Lal who was a total Tsundere and refused to admit she had the hots for her student.

It did not help when Viper decided to do a little match making of her own and give this Colonello advice on how to win over his teacher. Lal would either try to kill her for it, or thank her later.

Reborn was rather grumpy that Fon had so clearly succeeded where he had failed.

However the two were nothing if not discreet and put aside their potential romance whenever they were on a mission.

Theo was practically crowing when he realized that his advice worked.

* * *

 _Valentine's day..._

Viper was never one for romance, and this particular holiday was always a hit or miss when she was a teenager. It was hard to be as disastrous as the time when Lockhart insisted on bringing those dwarves to the school and getting that horrible Valentine. She never did find out who was brazen enough to send something like that. Or the time when she was taken on her first date, only to dump him because he was more interested in being a total ass rather than being a gentleman.

So when she found a box neatly wrapped on her bed and knew Fon had somehow broken into her room again without her knowing, she hid a distinct blush.

What she found was a gorgeous dress in indigo with red and silver highlights. It looked like something from China, which meant he had likely ordered it from home. On top of it were some hair decorations that could be worn by those who had short hair. This time instead of jasmine he had switched to gladiolus and yellow tulips.

It was a subtle way for him to declare he was "hopelessly in love with a strong willed woman".

She had a very strong suspicion Theo was behind his sudden knowledge of flower language, because he openly admitted to getting outside help. It wouldn't surprise her in the least... her son was a Marauder after all. Sneak attacks were practically in his blood.

Still, it was a beautiful dress and it _was_ Valentine's day.

Seeing Fon at her door with a bouquet of flowers (only making the suspicion Theo had helped him stronger), she hid a smile hearing his sharp inhalation of shock when he saw what she was wearing.

He had a slight tremor in his hands as he helped pin up her hair... she had never really messed with it and had never actually bothered to do anything besides grow it out and hope it wouldn't look like a bird's nest anymore.

"It's almost a pity the others aren't here to see this. They wouldn't even recognize you," said Fon, lightly joking.

Viper smirked, and there was a definite hint of absolute mischief in her eyes. Fon looked at her curiously.

She put a finger to her lips, before conjuring up an ice cold water balloon which she handed to him. She briefly nodded in a certain direction, and taking the hint Fon threw it.

There was a loud yelp and startled cursing from some very familiar voices, and Fon looked over her shoulder to see... Luce and the others trying to spy on their date.

His smile was almost as evil as Viper's.

"How did you know?"

"One, it's Luce. She probably knew this was coming. And two, because I have sharp eyes and they became attuned to catching troublesome people in the act without alerting them while raising a little boy who insists on getting into mischief."

Theo was a Marauder's child. Chaos was in his blood, and she had to be extra sharp to keep up with him.

Fon chuckled under his breath. Seeing Reborn soaked made the day even better.

Luce was absolutely pouting at being caught.

"You are no fun at all Viper," she complained.

"And you are too nosy. How did you con the others into this anyway?" said Viper unsympathetic.

"Like I'd miss seeing you dressed up," said Reborn. He wisely avoided leering when he saw the dangerous expression in Viper's eyes and Fon's face.

"Free food," said Skull, looking highly uncomfortable just being there.

"Likewise," said Verde. "You know I hate cooking."

"I wonder how Lal is doing," said Viper.

Especially since she gave Colonello that book on flower language and told him to find a good combination to give to his teacher. Lal would undoubtedly look up the meaning and hopefully realized the blond was actually serious about his feelings for her.

If Fon hadn't accidentally gotten her drunk on Halloween, she might still be in denial herself.

* * *

 _With Lal..._

Seeing the bouquet of flowers from her rather persistent student, Lal accepted them without actually agreeing to anything. However she should have known he was up to _something_ when one of the other girls from England took one look at the flowers and then grinned when she heard who they were from.

"Wow, he must seriously like you to give you that," she said.

"Why?" asked Lal with suspicion.

"That particular combination pretty much says he's hopelessly in love with you," she replied smirking.

Lal looked up the flowers later on the internet.

Delphinium for boldness. Ginger for pride. Hyacinth for sincerity. Day Lily for enthusiasm. And a red tulip declaring his love for her.

Lal blushed heavily, wondering where in the hell her student learned to combine flowers like that. More importantly who told him exactly what to get her for Valentine's day!


	5. Chapter 5

Theo was positively grinning. He had never seen his mother this happy for a very long time.

"So...when should I expect some brothers or sisters?" he asked.

"Theo!" said Viper, mortified.

"What, it's an honest question. You look really happy Mama. Fon is really good for you."

Viper didn't blush as hard this time.

"But still..." said Viper, unsure of herself.

"I highly doubt anyone who put as much effort as he has into dating you would just leave you," said Theo, knowing exactly what was going through her head.

His mother had some strong abandonment issues, and a very low sense of self worth as a woman. He knew why, but it wasn't his place to 'fix' the problem.

Viper hugged her son. Soon he would leave for his sixth year at Beauxbatons. He was growing up so fast, it was hard to believe he was the same child she held in her arms during thunderstorms.

Theo leaned into her, knowing she needed reassurance that he still needed her. Would always need her.

He just wished Fon would hurry up and propose so she could hopefully start to believe he was serious about his commitment to her.

* * *

It was supposed to be a mission to find some major blackmail on a very corrupt politician that had outlived his "usefulness", but couldn't be killed by the family who had him on their payroll for multiple reasons. Namely because he could just as easily turn on them.

They had already found a dead drop set to go public the second he died of anything short of natural causes...it was taking Verde some time to get past the firewall to reset the instructions so that they went straight to them, instead of to the papers and the cops.

So in order to keep the fat pig from realizing he was in for a very bad day, Fon and Viper were going undercover as tourists out to enjoy the city.

No one would suspect them because they were both easily able to blend in with the populace and had a ready made story for why they were in that particular restaurant. They were the distraction for Reborn.

They were on a date.

Reborn slipped something into the man's food, one that took time in working and made it look like he had died of a heart attack... he was already on drugs for his heart anyway, so it wouldn't be that far fetched.

In order to distract their target from the slight movements of the world's greatest hit man, Fon reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

Viper was sipping her wine and honestly didn't expect anything other than light conversation today. Maybe a fake spill via some subtle movements of Fon's feet, but not what happened next.

She damn near choked on her drink when Fon pulled out the ring. She definitely heard Reborn's irritated grumble over the comms when he realized what was going on.

The entire restaurant's eyes were on her as Fon proposed without any warning. Enough so that no one actually saw Reborn or what he did.

She said yes, thinking it was just a ploy to kill the politician...until she realized that Fon had decided to use this as the perfect opportunity to propose for real.

Needless to say Luce was over the moon and squealed loudly when she found out.

"I can't believe he actually did that!" said Luce grinning.

Viper was blushing hard and didn't even have her hood to hide behind. She had no regrets though.

"So what sort of wedding are you going to have?" said Lal, taking some amusement in Viper's embarrassment. Considering Colonello had told her who had given him that book, she felt it was karmic payback.

"I have no idea! I never even thought anyone would want to marry me!" said Viper horrified.

"You're kidding right? With those looks, I'm surprised you didn't have guys falling over themselves to date you," said Lal with open disbelief.

Viper went from shocked to miserable.

"I just thought Reborn was a fluke."

Lal started to realize maybe Viper had no idea how far she outclassed most girls. She had a great figure, noble looks and vibrant green eyes. Most girls would kill to look like her.

"What, did your dad shelter you or something?" asked Lal.

Viper flinched.

"Viper?" said Luce, openly concerned.

"My parents died before I was two, and my aunt was so jealous of my mother she openly took it out on me whenever she had the opportunity. And most of my teenage years was spent trying to survive, rather than worrying about what boys thought of me," said Viper miserably. "My hair alone was a bird's nest for years until I left England with Theo and let it grow out rather than mess with it."

Lal and Luce winced.

"So you've never dated anyone?" said Lal, her voice full of far more sympathy than before.

Viper shook her head.

"This is the first time I've dated _anyone_ without having to worry about them wanting something from it. A lot of them would have loved to get into my pants because I was famous, or because I was rich and from a very well to-do family, simply to brag that they had me," she said in a hollow voice. "Never mind that my every move was scrutinized and judged by people who had never even met me before and had a certain expectation about the things I was _supposed_ to know."

Lal wasn't much for hugging, but even she could tell Viper desperately needed one at the moment.

"I'm so sorry... I had no idea," said Lal.

Viper was a prickly Mist, but if her childhood and teenage years were that difficult, then perhaps it was actually justified. It was pretty clear Viper had very little idea of how she looked to others and even less confidence as a woman. Her relationship with Fon must have been the biggest leap of faith the girl had taken in years.

"There's a reason why I abandoned my original name and became Viper. It was less painful than being reminded of everyone I lost because the adults were too busy being sheep to actually _do_ something."

"Well don't worry, we'll help you plan," said Luce firmly. "Right?"

"Of course. Do you even _have_ anyone besides your son to stand on your side?" asked Lal.

Viper almost shook her head.

"I haven't spoken to any of them in over fifteen years, and I doubt they'd be very happy about me suddenly contacting them out of the blue to tell them I was getting married. And the only family I'm willing to claim died a long time ago. Besides... I did ditch them all the second I realized that if I didn't leave immediately they'd only make even more demands because I was part of the main force to end the war. Even if it cost me almost everything," said Viper. She sounded exhausted and so very tired of even thinking about it.

"What war?" asked Lal.

"You do know I'm a witch from England, right?"

Lal suddenly gaped at her.

"You were there during the whole Blood Purges in England?" she asked openly horrified.

While the purges didn't really affect the mafia, they still felt the effects of the Magical war spilling outside their ability to contain it. The Familigias in the UK were not happy with all the chaos and fear that the magicals were spreading because they refused to get off their ass and finish what most considered a guerrilla war between the ridiculously named "Death Eaters" and the "Order of the Phoenix".

It really didn't help that the entire war ended because while the adults were too scared or stupid to fight to kill their opponents, their children took up arms and actually _did_ something about it.

The worst part? Nothing actually changed for England. It was still a rather stagnant community, with only minor changes being made since their Savior supposedly died or went missing right after the war ended.

No one was entirely clear on how the Witch-Who-Conquered fared after the battle, because her body was never found and supposedly the accounts she had were still very much active.

"Were you a part of the DA?" asked Lal with open sympathy.

Viper nodded. Even though she was the one who actually lead it.

She had abandoned that part of her a very long time ago, and wasn't particularly eager to remind people she existed again. That part of her died the day Viper took over, and she wasn't about to revive it unless she had absolutely no other choice.

* * *

 _With Fon..._

"I can't believe you brazenly proposed to her like that during a mission," said Reborn.

Fon hid a smirk.

"Jealous?"

Reborn scoffed.

"I admitted defeat months ago, remember? She's all yours. But how the hell did you get past her thorns?" asked Reborn.

"Her son helped. Viper hasn't had an easy life, especially when she was young. Theo suggested smaller steps would be more effective," said Fon.

"What do you mean?" asked Verde sharply.

"I wasn't given specifics, and I doubt Theo would know the full story since Viper doesn't really like to share her pain that well... but I suspect she was openly abused for a number of years, on top of being betrayed by those she trusted."

Reborn was silent...until he spoke up.

"That...makes a lot of sense. Abuse victims can go any number of ways, but trust issues are an almost guarantee. And if they do managed to work past that, they can become very clingy to the people they've come to care about. Considering she's been raising a son, it definitely explains her recent behavior towards us," said Reborn.

"It doesn't help Theo mentioned he was already dating. I think that set it off," said Fon.

"What are you talking about?" asked Skull.

"Viper realized her son was growing up, so she started transferring her mothering instincts to _us_ ," said Verde bluntly. Annoying, but at least she wasn't overbearing about it. More like she made open gestures of being concerned about their overall health and welfare.

"Does she even have any family outside of her son?" asked Reborn.

Fon shook his head.

"According to Theo she cut all ties with them after the Blood Purges back in England ended. Because his father was a werewolf, she was openly concerned they might pass on the prejudice to those afflicted with the curse to him, even though he didn't inherit the man's curse."

"Then why did she date a werewolf in the first place if she was that worried?" asked Reborn. He was surprised when it was Skull, not Fon who slapped him on the head, almost knocking off his hat.

"Theo's parents were killed in the war. Viper adopted him because she was named his godmother and she wanted to be sure he had a childhood away from England," said Skull flatly.

Reborn blinked.

"That makes more sense than a pregnant teenager staying in a country that could have killed her with a werewolf's child," said Reborn.

"Any idea what the girls are talking about in there?" asked Skull, eyeing the door.

"Only an idiot would try to go in there, especially with Luce. Unless you actually want to hear girl talk," said Reborn flatly.

"On an unrelated note... don't you think it's strange?" asked Verde, changing the subject. The others looked at him. "We've been working around Luce for well over a few years now, and she has yet to display any of the common 'signs' of harmonizing with any of us. And I know she's at least a match for our Flames."

Reborn paused.

"Now that you mention it... it is strange. I can feel as though my Flames have bonded with someone, but my gut tells me it's not Luce," admitted Reborn.

Fon snorted.

"Luce is strong, but our _real_ Sky is stronger still and entirely too stubborn," said Fon cryptically. Seeing their looks, he smirked. "If you haven't figured out who it is, I'll not enlighten you. I'm sure they have their reasons for hiding their primary Flame type from us."

He only knew because it had become so blindingly obvious when he started dating with Viper. At first he had thought he was dealing with an unreasonable jealousy when other men started openly staring at her, despite her oblivious nature towards it. Well, oblivious wasn't quite the right word for it. More like annoyance?

And yet without fail, the second she went into an area with Flame actives, they would try to gravitate towards her. They kept a respectable distance thanks to Fon's presence around her, but they did tend to cluster nearby.

It had taken three months until he realized why...and then he kicked himself for not recognizing it sooner. Viper had a very strong "Sky Attraction" effect on Flames that didn't have a bond already. Especially when her hood was down.

Skull, by the look of it, had likely long since figured out who his Sky was, even if he didn't really get the importance of having one.

"Well if Luce isn't our Sky, who is?" asked Reborn irritably. If he was going to be stuck with a Guardian bond, he would like to know who he was going to be protecting for the rest of his life!

Fon smirked.

"Honestly Reborn, haven't you figured it out who it is yet? If you haven't realized who our Sky is, I'll not go out of my way to enlighten you."


	6. Chapter 6

Of course her life couldn't be simple. Fon had managed to win her heart, but the elders of his clan were naturally wary of bringing in an outsider...especially a Mist who openly admitted to being from England and was old enough to have been involved directly in the Blood Purges.

Which meant they had to travel to his clan home and deal with the elders. As their strongest fighter, the Elders were very unwilling to let him marry a British witch. Especially one of unknown lineage.

Fon had looked apologetic about the whole thing, but to be honest she would have thought it too easy if they had allowed them to be married without a fight. He was clearly from a very...traditional... family, so of course they would be worried about his potential wife.

Thank magic she had more or less mastered Chinese at this point, with a lot of help from Fon.

Viper remained calm with her hood down. Her bangs covered up that blasted scar which had more or less faded at this point...but it still served as a painful reminder of who she was and why she left without saying goodbye.

She calmly sipped tea, noting that someone was apparently trying to be funny because they had dosed it with a sort of subtle snake venom that would be hard to counter without the antidote. It added an interesting after effect and she made a note to ask what breed it was.

Finally she was called in, roughly around the time that the venom they dosed her with should have started to take effect.

The Elders frowned at how calm she was and she looked them all dead in the eye without a hint of emotion. She wasn't even sweating.

Viper had to hide her smirk when she heard the hushed whispers in the back about whether someone forgot to add the 'extra' to the tea.

And so the interrogation began. About fifteen minutes in Fon entered the room looking openly concerned. Likely because he had been told of the snake venom and how she had drank the entire cup of tea provided.

Twenty minutes in, and the tables suddenly turned on the Elders.

" _What breed of snake did you use? The venom provided such an... interesting... aftertaste to the tea,"_ she asked pleasantly.

Stone silence.

" _You knew we poisoned you,"_ said one woman in shock.

" _I admit, I was a bit surprised you would go so far as to lace the cup with snake venom. However it was a wasted effort. As you can clearly see, I am immune to snake venom including whatever impossible to find species you used to dose me with,"_ she said smugly. She could feel Fon's shock...and then open relief that she was fine.

" _Impossible! No one could be immune to a breed they've never encountered before, and this specimen is from our private stock!"_

Viper looked them dead in the eye with a cold expression.

" _Not unless they were bitten by a much deadlier snake that could overpower even specially breed serpents every time. Really, it's like you've never run into someone who's survived being bitten by a basilisk before..."_ said Viper, enjoying their shock.

" _Nonsense! The only witch in the past century who's ever encountered a living basilisk that comes from England went missing decades ago! And_ she _is a parselmouth!"_

Viper had a very evil smirk on her face.

 _~Who said I went missing?~_ she hissed. As if summoned by the sound of a Speaker, the snake they used to dose her with slithered out of the holding tank and immediately came to look at her, hissing back.

 _~A Speaker! This one is shamed for being part of the two-leggers plot to poison you.~_

 _~No harm done... while your venom is likely very impressive I've been bitten by a much more unpleasant snake. At least you seem to be quite well behaved,~_ said Viper, holding out her hand so it could slither up her arm. It promptly curled around her neck, to Fon's horror.

" _Impossible... Potter went missing right after the Battle of Hogwarts..."_

" _I never 'went missing'. I_ left _because I wasn't about to be dragged right back into their little squabbles when it risked my godson's health. I'd rather go into willing exile than cater to those heathens,"_ said Viper venomously. _"I can prove right now I am Lady Potter-Black, Head of the Black family."_

Seeing their anticipation, she drew her replacement wand and conjured up memories of her son and her fiancee.

"Expecto Patronum."

The magnificent silver stag erupted from her wand, prancing about before leveling a "Look" at a suddenly nervous Fon.

" _How do we know this isn't some sort of Mist trick designed to force us to hand over the anti-venom?"_ said one very cross old woman who had a pinched face.

Viper apparently had enough of their nonsense...which is why she flared her _full_ Flames at the lot of them.

Fon immediately responded with his own on instinct. It was the sort of instinct one gained upon finding their Sky and knowing there was potential danger around them. His hands were positively brimming with Storm Flames and it was clear he was only waiting for a unknown signal to unleash them on whoever agitated his Sky.

" _Any_ other _objections?"_ asked Viper, her tone full of frost and her Flames positively drowning the Elders under the weight of a very pissed off Misty Sky.

Considering Mist was her _secondary_ Flame, the purity of her Sky Flames meant she was almost impossible to find Guardians for... unless you were the strongest of the generation like Fon was.

There were none. On an unrelated note, the snake they used to dose Viper with was apparently so ashamed of being used against a speaker that they agreed to let her keep it...as long as she didn't try to breed it outside the approved stock.

* * *

Fon looked at his now confirmed fiancee with some concern. Viper was acting rather melancholy and extremely moody.

He held her in his arms and just let her relax the tension in her shoulders.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"I hate being reminded of who I was. I took the name Viper for a reason..." she said tiredly.

"Tell me, then. Tell me of the person who became the woman I love," said Fon.

Viper tensed...before a clear sense of "resignation" emanated from their bond.

Fon made sure to settle down, as he had the feeling this would take some time.

"Before I became Viper, my original name was Azalea Adhara Potter. I only found out about the fact I was the next head of Black family after my godfather died, thus promoting me from heir to the Family head..."

As Viper talked, Fon's composure as the "Eye of the Storm" was sorely tested. It was hard to remain even remotely calm the longer she told him about the injustices she had to endure before she finally had enough and ran away with her godson. Of the abuse she suffered for years and the betrayals that had solidified her distrust of others.

The thing that really tried his ability to remain "calm" was the way she openly spoke of her "death" and how she had been tricked into becoming a martyr purely to remove a soul fragment from her head of the same Sky that she was trying to defeat. How she had only found out _after_ she had purged the shade from her Flames that there were easier, less deadly methods of removal.

Finding out his fiancee _and_ his Sky had been openly lead to her death and no one did a damn thing about it, nay actively ENCOURAGED her to do such a thing without putting her first... if Fon had met her before that day there wouldn't be much of a magical England left standing. He might have forgone his magical training in favor of pursuing martial arts, but he was still a powerful pure blood.

He wouldn't have hesitated to bring the entire clan down on their heads for endangering his Sky.

No wonder Viper always looked so tired if the subject of who she was before she became the strongest Mist came up.

Viper for the most part curled into Fon's embrace, reveling in the fact she had finally found someone who put her first and genuinely seemed to give a damn about her opinion. They stayed like that until close to dinner, when she would be formally introduced to the clan.

Officially this was just an announcement of Fon's engagement to her. Unofficially this was a way for her to learn more about Fon's family and hopefully not strangle anyone.

She openly dreaded how they would react to Theo once she was married to Fon... because he would be brought into the clan as well by extension. Even if he was too old to consider Fon his father, he still respected the Storm.

She could dress up to make a good impression...but to be honest she would rather they get to know her now and not have to deal with any adjustment period.

Which is why she only did the bare minimum to her hair and wore a fashionable, if slightly conservative Chinese dress Fon had given her. She wore no make up and her contacts were firmly in place. The snake that she had 'acquired' during the Elder's little test (and the unspoken attempt to control Fon through her) curled down her neck like some sort of necklace, while Fantasma was firmly in his little bowl sleeping.

The frog loved the portable swamp Viper had made for him...it allowed him to relax properly regardless of where they were, and thanks to magic she just had to pull it out of whatever bag she was using and set it on the table.

Fon nearly did a doubletake as she walked out of the room, but didn't hesitate to offer his arm out to her.

"You look lovely," he said honestly.

"Here's to hoping I don't mess things up," said Viper. She was nervous, but hid it well. Fon chuckled.

The dinner was chaotic and once the alcohol was brought out, loud. Viper would smugly admit to drinking most of the men under the table to Fon's open amusement...as well as the amusement of their wives. And once Viper settled into a calm state, she got along rather well with the women of the clan. The fact she forced the Elders to back down from shock seemed to help.

To be fair, her track record with older generations was so bad it wasn't even funny. She had gone in with the assumption her luck would hold out like it always did to the point she would have to prove she was more than strong enough to take them on and kick their ass doing it.

It almost felt like dinner with the Weasley family, except Molly wasn't there hovering over her damn shoulder with the full intent to make all the decisions without her input.

She might have loved Molly as a mother once... but after raising Theo she would never submit to the older woman again. Especially with that voice.

And then her mellow came crashing down when she was reminded of something she would have killed to avoid. Literally, in fact.

As a pure blood witch (her status had apparently been "elevated" in an effort to coax her out of hiding at some point) she was duty bound to go to Gringotts and register a marriage contract to formalize her bond with Fon before the wedding.

It was mostly to keep track of the bloodlines and to make everything official.

The problem? Outside of rare days into the magical world other than England, she had avoided her heritage like it was the Black Plague.

Besides, she wasn't sure if the goblins had forgiven her for breaking into their bank and releasing that dragon.

* * *

Gringotts (Shanghai Branch) was thankfully empty when she and Fon went into the magical alley. She had two rings around her neck, ones she had more or less forgotten about and had to hunt down before they could come here...much to Fon's open amusement.

To be fair, she had misplaced her wand as well since she didn't really rely on magic much.

The goblin was as well dressed as the ones in England, and with considerably less snide undertones. Then again, she could totally relate to why the English goblin clans hated wizards.

"Reason for visit?" said the goblin.

"We're here to register a marriage contract, both for Gringotts and the Ministry," said Fon calmly.

"Name of the clan or family?" he asked, taking out a calligraphy brush and some ink.

"Yuen," said Fon.

"Potter-Black," said Viper...inwardly she was preparing for a monumental headache to come her way.

The goblin stopped what he was doing and gave Viper a hard look.

"There are many who have tried to claim the titles and vaults of the Potter-Black family. What is your proof?" he demanded.

Viper pulled out the rings that verified her title as the Family Head of both lines. The goblin cautiously accepted them...and had someone come in to confirm they were the genuine article.

"Follow him into the back room. If you truly are Lady Potter-Black, then you'll need to confirm the bloodline. As I said, many have tried to claim her titles and vaults, particularly the English Ministry."

"Why does that not surprise me..." muttered Viper in annoyance. "Thank you for your assistance, Master Goblin."

Fon followed his fiancee into another room, where she took the cleansed knife and cut just deeply enough to have a decent stream of blood to fall into the potion. While the rings were confirmed to be the true ones, that didn't mean they would believe her purely on that as evidence.

The goblin looked at the lineage from the bloodline potion, as well as the list of vaults and inheritances...and cursed.

"This is going to stir up so much paperwork, you realize? Particularly once the English realize you're still alive."

"Let them try to bother me. I'll show them exactly how much of the Black lineage flows in my veins. If they think I'll come back and be their pet witch, I won't hesitate to slaughter them all," said Viper darkly. Fon's grasp on her shoulder was firm and solid.

He didn't need to say anything... she knew he had his silent agreement to help hide the bodies if they did try anything.

Thank magic she had changed her name using one of the older rituals so that letters address to her birth name would go straight to another room. The room being an incinerator since she refused to deal with howlers or magical stupidity.

Still, they managed to register their contract and the goblins were even "kind" enough to give them a head start before they delivered this news to the Chinese Ministry.

"I have never been so thrilled that we're going to be out of the country when the news hit..." said Viper shuddering. She hated the magical society for a reason.

"Look at the bright side," said Fon with mock-cheer.

"What bright side? I'm almost certain to be swamped with idiots within a month of us coming back."

"Yes, but now you have almost an entire compliment of Guardians who would be more than happy to help send them running for their mothers," said Fon smirking.

Viper blinked, before an evil grin appeared on her face.

"Your right... I could just send Reborn or better yet Verde in to deal with the idiots. I'm sure Verde would _love_ to get his hands on some..."

Let it never be said that Viper didn't inherit one hell of a vindictive streak from her Black ancestors and quite possibly her mother.


	7. Chapter 7

**I LIVE! Sorry folks, it's been a rather unpleasant month and my mother just got out of the hospital.**

* * *

Andromeda Tonks was one of the first alerted to the fact that Azalea Potter-Black was very much alive when she was sent a notice from Gringotts about the upcoming wedding of "the current head of the Black Family", which Azalea had been kind enough to bring her back into.

Needless to say the old witch was very much interested in finding out where the hell her grandson was and why he never showed up to Hogwarts. She knew for a fact he had been sent an admission letter.

It would take less than a week for the news to hit the rest of magical England. Many had wondered what happened to the "Witch-Who-Survives" (among many other ridiculous titles) after the Final Battle of Hogwarts. Particularly her friends and the Weasley family.

It was worth paying the goblins to insure that the Head of the Black Family got her letter...whatever Azalea had done had made it impossible to track her down. The Ministry had even tried the same trick that got her roped into the Tri-Wizard tournament by using one of her old essays.

It failed, spectacularly and rendered several of the idiots into squibs as recompense for their stunt.

Andromeda had a vested interest in seeing her grandson... he was all she had left of her family, since Narcissa refused to speak to her after the war and Draco had his own failures to live with.

 _Three days later..._

Viper took one look at the letter from Gringotts and winced.

It was address to the her official title as "head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black" and it was from Andromeda.

She was rather relieved the old witch just wanted to see Theo.

" _Mama, do you have any idea what time it is?"_ yawned Theo. Ordinary Wizarding Levels were brutal and he had just come out of a study session.

"Little wolf, remember how I said that one day you would have to contact your grandmother Andromeda...?"

Theo sat up, wide awake.

" _What happened Mama?"_

"She contacted me through Gringotts. She wants to meet you... and she's agreed to use an 'accorded neutral territory' such as Gringotts."

Theo bit his lip.

" _It's okay if I contact her through the goblins, right?"_ he said nervously.

"If you want, you can wait for us to finish our mission and come with you."

Theo nodded. It was only natural he was nervous about meeting his biological grandmother...after all, Viper had made it clear she wanted to keep him far away from the English as she could because they were not to be trusted.

She only had a few pictures of his mother Tonks and very few of Remus.

" _I'll write a response in the morning,"_ said Theo.

"Good boy. I'll let you know when we're due back."

He nodded before yawning even louder. Viper smiled.

"Get some sleep, little wolf."

Fon came up behind her as she ended the mirror-call.

"Do I dare ask what that is about?"

"Andromeda, Theo's grandmother, figured out how to contact me after all this time. To be fair, it never occurred to her to simply ask the goblins since all the other letters I got address to my old name went straight into an incinerator," said Viper, kissing him on the cheek.

"So Theo wants us to be there for support when he meets her?"

"I kept him away from England for his entire life...and I only had limited stories of his birth parents."

"Considering what they could have put him through because of his father, I don't blame you and I know he doesn't either."

"I really don't want this to open up the floodgates for the others..." sighed Viper. "Molly Weasley is enough of a headache on her own, to say nothing of how Hermione will likely react to the fact I haven't contacted them in over a decade without first saying goodbye."

Fon kissed her on the head and she leaned into him.

"If they really are your friends, they'll understand why you had to leave."

* * *

Theo practically glomped Viper when he saw her. It was shortly after the end of term for Beauxbatons, and this meeting was making him far more nervous than any of his O.W.L.'s could have.

Viper had her hood up and Fon was playing the part of the bodyguard. The trio went into the room Viper had rented specifically for this meeting, and less than five minutes after going inside, Andromeda arrived.

Theo looked up from his butterbeer and saw his grandmother.

"Azalea," she said calmly.

"Andromeda," Viper replied, nodding in reply. "Theo... meet your grandmother, Andromeda Tonks ne Black. Andromeda... this is Theo."

Andromeda's eyes soften when she looked at her grandson, who's hair flashed in a variety of colors before setting on a vibrant indigo.

"Ah... it's nice to meet you," he said shyly.

Andromeda eyed Theo, before her expression became that of open approval. She hugged him without preamble, which cut down on the tension a great deal. Theo leaned into the embrace without hesitation.

"So... why is it that it took fifteen years before I got to see my grandson? And in a Beauxbatons uniform, no less."

Theo looked abashed.

Viper's hood was down, and she looked Andromeda in the eye.

"You and I both know how the idiots in England treat werewolves before the war. The last thing I wanted to subject my _son_ to was their stupidity simply because of Remus, and I didn't need any bigger reason to leave once I knew the war was over."

Andromeda, to her credit, didn't flinch at the gaze of Viper.

She sighed.

"I don't blame you for leaving like you did... Molly would have tried to give you any number of 'reasons' to stay, and Granger would have helped... but if anyone deserves freedom from our society it's you. At least you took your duties to your godchild more seriously than Sirius did when faced with the same decision."

Viper didn't wince at the reminder of how badly her godfather had screwed up.

"Why Beauxbatons though? Hogwarts was rebuilt after seven years, and I know Minerva sent the invitation to Teddy."

"Because I refuse to subject Theo to the same nonsense I had to put up with. You remember how bad the Slytherins got during the war, and while Theo didn't inherit Remus' curse, their children would have still gone after him because of his father. Besides, the gender ratio for Beauxbatons is skewed in the favor of the girls and Maxime has a zero tolerance policy for bullying because of creature inheritances. Theo certainly didn't have any complaints about the school once he hit puberty," smirked Viper.

Theo blushed heavily.

"Mama, you don't have to say it like that!"

"This coming from the same young man found in the middle of a very heavy petting session with four older girls with rather 'generous' assets with less than all their clothing on?" she shot back.

Theo's hair settled into a fiery red, as did his face.

"Oh dear magic, she _told_ you about that?!"

"Theo, unlike Dumbledore, Madame Maxime actually keeps parents apprised of what their children are doing... I have entire lists of reports of what you get up to, including the minor pranks you pull," said Viper smugly. "And my threat of papering the entire school with your old baby photos still stands, by the way."

Fon hid his amusement behind his sleeve. Andromeda wasn't much better, she was openly trying not to laugh.

Most of their meeting, which moved to an outdoor cafe when their time ran out, was spent catching Viper up on the comings and goings of her old acquaintances.

She wasn't the least bit shocked Granger had married Ron, only to divorce him after having to deal with his mother's harping and his arrogance getting the better of him.

That had been a match made in hell from the start, and Viper had known it would end badly without her to buffer them from each other.

* * *

Viper was never more thankful for the fact she was a powerful Mist than the second Fon's sister decided to help with the wedding preparations.

In order to soothe some of the 'bad feelings' she had created by forcing the clan Elders to acknowledge her as a worthy match for Fon, she had readily agreed to a traditional Chinese wedding, right down to the red dress.

To be fair, she had no real preference one way or another to what sort of marriage ceremony they had so long as it was legal. Andromeda didn't take very long to get over the fact she had missed fifteen years of her grandson's life... Viper had taken multiple pictures and it was very obvious she had done everything in her power to raise him correctly...even if he was somewhat ignorant of pure blood customs.

Something Viper didn't care about since it didn't really make her money, and Theo could care less about. So long as he was polite and truthful, it all evened out in the end anyway.

Andromeda agreed to act in place of her parents and godfather... mostly because both of them had lost most of their family in the war, and due to the fact Viper needed someone from the Black family outside of just Theo to make it more official.

One look at the lists of flowers... Andromeda gleefully helped to create arrangements that subtly reminded people of the devotion Fon had for his future wife, and her absolute love for him, especially since Viper admitted to having only a passing knowledge of "Flower Language"... and she was ready to simply create a Mist illusion for the decorations.

Biyu was having none of it. This was her special day, she shouldn't have to result to Mist illusions and besides they didn't get to celebrate a big wedding like this often enough.

Viper shuddered. At this point she was just glad they weren't bringing Luce into it. At least not until the actual wedding.

"What about these?" said Biyu eagerly. Viper groaned at the massive list.

"Look, why don't you condense that (she waved that the foot long list with tiny ass print) into three or four options. I honestly don't care about the cakes so long as they taste good, and don't get me started on the flower arrangements. I can already tell this is going to be beyond expensive just to pay for it..."

"At least it's a relatively _small_ wedding. Of course it doesn't hurt that you have yet to announce a date."

Viper smirked.

"Once we have the list narrowed down to something reasonable, then we can talk dates. Otherwise it'll be an even bigger hassle if we have to change last minute."

Biyu pouted, but agreed to cut down most of the list.

"How is Teddy handling this?" asked Andromeda.

Viper made a face.

"Who do you think helped Fon?" she said annoyed. "Theo gave Fon a list of things to try and what to avoid without me knowing. Including the flowers..."

Biyu's eyes suddenly gleamed.

"Oh? So what exactly did my dear brother do to get your favor?"

Viper blushed.

"Mostly it was the flowers. He kept leaving small flowers or little bouquets on my pillow, and sometimes my favorite treats like treacle tart or strawberries."

"What kind of flowers?" asked Andromeda intently.

"Yellow jasmine, thyme, nutmeg, blue violets..." she listed.

Andromeda's eyes gleamed.

"Sounds like he's quite the romantic."

Viper openly snorted.

"He asked Theo, who gave him a list of flowers to pick from and their meaning. Fon had no idea about the Victorian flower language until he called Theo for advice on what to leave."

Biyu snickered.

"Of course I didn't make it easy for him," said Viper.

"As well you should!" said Andromeda, amused. "A girl should make a man work for it, if they wish to court you properly!"

Biyu nodded in absolute agreement.

Viper snorted.

"Tell that to Reborn... it took him _years_ of me making it clear I wasn't interested before he finally gave up, and that was only because I made it very apparent there was no way in hell he was getting into my pants unless he was willing to commit solely to me. I wasn't about to become another of his conquests."

"And what did my brother have to say about it?"

"Nothing. He waited for me to make the first move after Reborn finally took the hint before he started courting me openly. Of course he decided to be funny when he proposed."

"Oh?" said Andromeda.

"We were acting as decoys when he chose to propose and distract people from what Reborn was doing... it wasn't until hours later I realized he was actually being serious about it," said Viper in a huff.

Biyu started snickering.

"Is it true you called the Elder's bluff _and_ took the snake they used?"

Viper rolled her eyes.

"They thought they could coerce Fon or myself by poisoning me with snake venom. Unfortunately for them, I'm immune thanks to that damn basilisk," said Viper.

"Wait...they actually tried to poison you before interrogation?" said Biyu horrified. They only did that to the most untrustworthy of people trying to _buy_ their way into the clan's good graces.

"I take it that's not normal?" said Andromeda.

"It's only used on people they suspect will try to betray the clan once they have a foot in it. It's like they're blatantly saying that they think she's a spy or something, and if they brought Fon in..."

"Fifteen minutes, and five after that I called them on the fact they tried to poison me," said Viper helpfully.

"No wonder they offered to pay for the entire wedding. According to what my brother said, you made them acknowledge you as worthy of him and the clan," said Biyu in wonder.

"My record with the elderly generation is so horrible it's not even a good joke. I went into that interview fully prepared to kick their ass just because."

"Good. A Black should never submit to a weaker force, especially if they have enough tricks up their sleeve to have the upper hand," said Andromeda in dark approval.

Then again, she had been raised with this sort of thing in mind. Clearly Azalea had learned the sort of subtle power plays by instinct rather than being taught. Now Andromeda just needed to refine what she knew to be truly vicious.

Biyu shook her head in disbelief.


	8. Chapter 8

Viper was not looking forward to this... sadly she had put it off for long enough. Fortunately she was much better at manipulating memories than before, and she had even less morals about doing so.

Fon, Theo and Andromeda were coming with her. Biyu was busy making the final preparations for the wedding.

Sensing Fon's hand on her shoulder, she took a deep breath...and went into the room. She dodged the slap with ease, and glared at Granger.

"How could you leave us like that?" she demanded.

"Someone's been taking lessons from Molly," said Viper crossly, her voice a hiss.

Someone chuckled, and she turned to find George there. With her permission, he gave her a massive hug.

"You certainly took your time finding yourself," said Luna dreamily.

"Raising Theo helped," admitted Viper, before she hugged the blond tightly. "Where's Ron?"

Hermione deflated a bit.

"He refused to come since he's bitter about the fact you left so abruptly without even confiding in us. When he found out you were getting married to someone else, he became impossible to deal with."

"So where is this soon-to-be husband of yours?" asked Ginny eagerly.

Viper smirked.

"Guys, I want you to meet Fon... my fiancee. And of course I couldn't possibly forget my son Theo. Or as you might know him, Teddy."

"Is that a Beauxbaton's uniform?" said Hermione in surprise.

"I don't trust Hogwarts and Madame Maxime has a zero tolerance policy for most of the nonsense we had to deal with...including harassment over creature inheritance. If I know Padfoot he's likely crowing over the fact I sent his baby cousin to a school where he'll be surrounded by girls and Remus is silently cheering his son on for getting the affections of a lot of older girls while maintaining a high grade point average. I have copies of the letters Maxime sent me about what he gets up to and baby pictures."

"Mum!" said Theo horrified. Andromeda chuckled darkly.

"Bill and Fleur would be here, except Victoria is giving them a hard time and Bill's been having conniptions over her choice in boyfriends... to say nothing of what Mum is currently harping about," said George.

Viper didn't wince. She had long since come to terms with her life and didn't need any of Molly's overbearing nature in her life.

"I take it she's not happy with the fact I'm getting married without even introducing her to my fiancee first? Or that I haven't written in over a decade?"

George, Ginny and Hermione all winced in unison.

"You have no idea," said Hermione. "Would it have killed you to write?"

"Considering it could have been used to track me down and I highly doubt that the magical society in England has changed all that much? Yes. Besides, I was busy making a new name for myself," said Viper without hesitation. "And before you ask, I'm not telling you because I still remember the freak out you had first year over being expelled of all things. It took forever to loosen your morals."

"Considering she's the head Barrister in the Ministry..." said George.

"I'm definitely not telling you then," said Viper.

"Not even a little hint?" said Ginny, eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Not without paying me first," said Viper unsympathetic.

George blinked, before a grin appeared on his face. He handed her a vault key.

"I work in information, among other things," said Viper.

"She is one of the best information brokers available...even if she charges a premium for it," added Fon.

"How much?" asked Ginny. Viper told her the bare minimum and her friends, save for Andromeda, Fon and Theo, choked in shock.

"Seriously?!" said Hermione.

"You get what you pay for. If you buy information from me, then you are guaranteed that it is as accurate as possible or else. After the first few morons tried to sell me bad information word spread that I don't screw around," said Viper.

"So does this mean we get to come to the wedding, or at least the after party?" asked Luna hopefully.

Viper pulled out invitations...and it took Hermione three seconds to realize what they actually were.

"Is this a magically enforced geass in the form of a wedding invitation?" she said shocked.

"Yes," said Viper. "If you want in, you have to agree not to talk about when it's being held, or where, to get an active time port key that will drop you off at the door two hours before the wedding. If you want, you can take a set for Bill and Charlie. I'm sure Theo would love to meet Victoria."

Theo nodded in agreement. He would love to meet his cousins, because the Weasleys were actually part of the Black family through Molly.

"For obvious reasons, Molly and Ron are not invited," said Viper dryly.

Hermione looked dubious but Ginny, George and Luna all signed the contract.

"Is it alright if I bring Neville with me?" asked Luna hopefully.

"Actually he already signed the contract...and sent me a nice thank you note for the seeds I sent him."

"So, how did you two meet?" asked Ginny eagerly.

"Work," said Viper.

Fon smiled, and he could sense the red head's intense interest in him.

"She was not easy to win over...fortunately I had some very willing assistance on my side," said Fon.

"It's just lucky Mum insisted I take that class on Victorian flower language...otherwise you never would have known the best combination of flowers to leave in her room, or what her favorite foods were," snickered Theo.

"At least I didn't make the same mistakes Reborn did," said Fon amused.

"Who's Reborn?" asked Hermione.

"You'll meet him at the wedding. Since I won't have many people on my side of the isle, he and a few others will be sitting in place of my family," said Viper. "Be forewarned, the man is a shameless flirt and if you're not careful you'll end up another one of his conquests. He's a bit of an ass, but when it comes to having your back he's absolutely trustworthy."

Ginny smirked.

"Sounds like a lot of fun."

Viper had a rather evil smirk of her own. Then she looked at George.

"His catchphrase is 'Chaos', and he's also very happy to cause untold amounts of mayhem just because he can."

George rubbed his hands eagerly. He could use with a good challenge.

* * *

It was the big day, and Viper was far more nervous than Fon was. Then again, he wasn't called the "Eye of the Storm" for nothing.

Having her old friends with some of her 'new' ones like Lal was nerve wracking. Luce seemed to be cheerfully debating something with Luna at least and not on her nerves.

Victoria was rather pleased to finally meet her godmother... Viper honestly had no idea that Bill and Fleur had nominated her for the job in the first place since she was born after the war... and even happier finding out that Azalea Potter was just as badass as she had been told by her aunt Luna.

More so even, as she had only gotten stronger once she left England in the dust.

Standing up at the alter with Fon was almost like a dream...even if she only caught half of what the officiant said to bind them together.

She definitely remembered the kiss though.

The after party was epic...but the chaos caused by two worlds running into each other was even more fun.

Reborn was being his usual self, though he didn't seem to mind Ginny flirting with him in the least. Viper almost had a bad feeling when she saw George whispering to Reborn and that evil grin coming onto his face.

It was a match made in hell, and it would only spell chaos for England.

Viper grinned. Not her problem anymore, and they deserved everything they got from such an unholy alliance.

And then Luna sidled up to her friend.

"I bet you can't wait for tonight~!" she sing songed.

"What?"

"Tonight is your wedding night, after all," said Luna grinning.

It took a few seconds for that to sink in, but when she did and saw Fon, her face went completely red. Oh god, she had completely forgotten about that part. Even if she _had_ been waiting for the right person for a very long time.

Fon took one look at the expression on Viper's face and grinned. Her face went a deeper shade of red. Luna smirked.

While the wedding itself was a traditional Chinese, the after party wasn't. Fon took a lot of pleasure in dancing with his new wife, and even more fun out of teasing her with hints of what he had planned.

"I'm envisioning silk ropes and a blindfold..." he whispered.

"You are incorrigible," said Viper blushing heavily. Fon smirked.

"You two look like you're having fun," said Luce grinning. She had clearly been drinking, because she was far too giggly.

"And you look like you've found a new best friend," Viper shot back with good humor.

"I might just have to adopt Luna into the family~!" said Luce grinning.

"On your own head be it. I'll only act as a Luna-translator if you pay me," said Viper.

Luna-speak required a...special...touch. Especially when she got even more loopy than usual while drinking.

"Luce~!" said Luna, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Luce copied the move, almost spilling her drink.

"Luna~!" she replied happily.

"I am so glad keeping those two under control is _not_ my problem," said Viper.

"Bad?"

"No, just headache inducing. Especially since Luna is almost as strong as I am in Mist Flames and she has a much bigger imagination to play around with. As in she would happily dump people into a recreation of Pokémon simply because she could."

Fon blinked, before staring after Luce and Luna, both off getting very, very drunk.

"I agree. It's not our problem to clean up," he said after considering it. Then he eyed how the party was winding down and had a wicked thought.

Fon maneuvered Viper into a slightly more private area...in that it wasn't in full view of the entire room... before scooping her up princess-style in his arms.

"Eep!" squeaked Viper, causing Fon to laugh.

"I daresay we've spent enough time socializing for the moment," he said smiling. Viper blushed again, already figuring out what he had planned. Luna winked at them both before waving them off.

It was almost a shame they missed the real fun of the party...which happened when a drunken Luna Lovegood started conjuring Mist-illusions combined with random transfiguration spells to distract everyone from the fact the newlyweds had just ditched the party.

Fortunately that was what video and pensieve memories were for.

* * *

Fon had a wicked expression on his face as he blindfolded Viper and used silk ropes to tie her hands to the bed frame. Her face was a solid red...but there was a distinct expression of anticipation in her eyes.

"So what is it that you have planned?" she asked.

"I think it would be better to show you, rather than tell," he said, taking away her sight for the moment.

 _The next morning..._

Viper was sore... but felt whole in a way she never thought was possible. Fon was just plan smug, and if not for the fact he had a very good reason to be she would have punched him.

They were in an isolated home inside one of the training areas owned by the clan. One that was primarily used for those teaching unruly children how to behave and control their power without doing too much damage that would require outside intervention.

It also served as a very nice, relaxing get away for newlyweds, and there was even a crystal cave Fon was particularly eager to show Viper.

"How are you feeling?" asked Fon.

"Sore. A hot bath might fix that right up," said Viper without hesitation. She downed her tea in one go, before slowly working on a second cup.

She was tired, sore...but for once she didn't mind at all. She shivered when Fon's arms wrapped around her, remembering rather vividly what they had done to her last night... a scene made more intense because she could only focus on how it felt and not what she could see.

Who knew Fon had a bondage kink? Hell, who knew she had one too?

This time she didn't squeak in surprise when Fon scooped her up and delivered her to a hot spring not too far from the house. Within a few moments, she could feel her body relaxing. And then she felt something against her hip and gave Fon a side long look.

"How long are we staying here again?"

"I got permission to stay here for a week...but Luce gave us two months before they'll accept any more missions," said Fon.

"In that case... I do believe it's time for a very long overdue vacation, just the two of us," she said kissing him. Fon's eyes were half-lidded and his smile widened.

"Agreed."

* * *

Reborn wasn't the only one smirking when Viper and Fon returned. And the first thing out of Viper's mouth at the look Luce was giving them was...

"Before you ask, I'm going to give you the same thing I told Ginny and Luna. You're not getting details so don't bother asking," said Viper flatly.

"Funny, I'm sure Ginny would _love_ to share some details of her own from her trip to Sicily," said Reborn smirking.

He had run into her between contracts and they had a brief fling. She certainly wasn't complaining and it was an excellent vacation far from her mother.

"Which is why I cut her off before she even had a chance to share them. I don't _do_ that sort of girl talk," deadpanned Viper.

"Aww... not even a little?" said Luce.

"Do I look like I care?" said Viper.

"I certainly don't care to hear what they got up to. By the way Viper what the hell does it mean if someone gives you white and light purple roses?" asked Lal. She kept finding entire bouquets of them sent to her every week.

"White and lavender? White means 'I am worthy of you' and Lavender is for 'My love is genuine'. Basically whoever is sending them is trying to say that they genuinely love you and are worthy of your affections," said Viper.

Lal scowled.

"I am going to kill that idiot. When is he going to get it through his head I don't date students?" she muttered.

Viper coughed something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Tsundere".

"What was that?" said Lal.

Viper coughed again, and this time Fon covered his smile behind his sleeve.

"I believe my dear Viper just called you a 'tsundere'. Meaning you hide behind a tough exterior and hide your real affections for your student," said Fon smiling.

Lal growled.

"I am _not_ a tsundere!" said Lal.

"Yes, you are," said Skull. He had to dodge the gunshots from the irate woman.

Viper smirked and used this as the perfect opportunity to draw attention off her and Fon.

"Tsundere," said Viper.

Lal growled.


	9. Chapter 9

Fon was walking into the room with his favorite foods when Viper suddenly ran past him and straight to the bathroom. He wondered when she would notice it... then again he did have a cheat in that he could sense changes in a person's Chi.

He had been the first to congratulate Luce during their last mission, though finding out she apparently hadn't realized it herself had made things rather awkward. The bright smile on her face when she confirmed his words made the entire mess worth it.

Viper had been experiencing it for a full month, but he hadn't been sure of what he was sensing until he realized Luce had the same signs.

Fon calmly put his mapo tofu down on the table and went to hold Viper's hair back.

"Oh dear magic... why does this keep happening to me? First Thai food and now that spicy tofu you're so fond of... and don't get me started on the fish..."

Fon hid a smile.

"For an information broker, you're rather slow to figure out the small details," joked Fon.

Viper blinked... before realization hit her hard.

"You jerk! Why didn't you tell me before?" she said, lightly punching his chest in annoyance. He warned Luce before she started to show, but couldn't warn her?

"To be honest I was going to tell you later... Luce was an accident."

"How long?" asked Viper.

"At least a month," admitted Fon.

"Theo's going to be thrilled. He's been hinting at how much he would love brothers and sisters for years," said Viper. Suddenly a breeze came in...and with it the smell of the tofu on the table. Her stomach lurched.

Fon winced. Looked like he might have to give up his favorite food for a while, at least until her morning sickness went away.

Rubbing her back, Viper managed to hold down whatever was left of her stomach long enough for Fon to put the food away.

"Ugh... good thing I'm a long range fighter," she said, holding her stomach.

"Agreed. You and Luce will have to stay out of the way of fighting until your pregnancy runs it's course."

"I'm not leaving you and that idiot Reborn to do all the fighting!" said Viper irate. The very idea was appalling to her.

Fon winced at the tone.

"I wasn't saying that. Just that you should abstain from any close combat fighting."

Viper rolled her eyes. Since marrying Fon she had taken to leaving her hood down more and more.

"In any case can you at least tell me what gender they'll be? Or is that too difficult this early?"

"Unfortunately determining the gender is beyond my capabilities," admitted Fon.

"Well at least I have a general idea of what the name should be," said Viper. She had been thinking of it for some time when she realized she was in love with the martial artist.

"Oh?"

"Jasmine Adhara or Syaoran Orion," said Viper. "Since it's apparently tradition to give children names after constellations or gods in the Black family."

Fon smiled. They were fine, strong names.

Still, he knew by now that Viper was nothing if not stubborn as a mule. If he didn't find something to take her mind off the pregnancy hormones once she was no longer able to move around as easily as before, she would go stir crazy.

So once her stomach had settled, Fon went into one of the clan training rooms and brought out... a staff?

"I am not going to start casting with a staff if that's what you're implying. Not only would it make control that much harder but I rarely need a wand for anything other than precision anymore."

"It's not that sort of staff," said Fon.

Viper caught the piece of wood, but her confusion was evident on her face... at least until Fon brought out a second one of similar make.

"Oh."

"Naturally I'll avoid any attacks to the midsection. But learning how to fight with a weapon is a good distraction," said Fon.

Viper smiled at him.

"Don't worry about taking it easy on me. I can handle pain."

Fon's smile faltered.

"Unlike your previous teachers, I do not need pain to instruct. And I refuse to hurt you like they did," said Fon flatly.

Viper took a stance, allowing her body to fall into what felt natural. Fon eyed his wife with surprise... the stance was one of the more advanced forms.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

Luce was the first to pick up on it... likely because she had the same condition. Her loud squeal got the immediate attention of the others.

"Ow. Did you have to do that so close to my ear?" demanded Verde crossly.

"How far along?" she said, practically on top of Viper.

Viper scowled at her.

"According to Fon, a month longer than you," she said bluntly.

Luce squealed again.

"Wait... you're pregnant?" said Reborn.

"Good thing I'm better at long range and information gathering," said Viper.

"This coming from the woman who picked up on how to fight with a staff and a pair of tonfa faster than anyone I've ever seen," said Fon in exasperation.

Viper smirked.

"I've raised a little boy, if you remember. What makes you think I only focused on magic or schoolwork?"

Fon blinked, before a slow smile appeared on his face.

"That explains quite a bit."

"Can you think of a better way to wear down a little boy with far too much energy than to teach him self defense?"

Fon smiled in amusement.

"Great... now instead of one invalid we have two," complained Verde.

Viper glared at him.

"Care to repeat that?" she growled.

"Let's face it... with you two knocked up there's no way either of you could contribute to the missions," said Verde scoffing.

Viper's face went completely blank. She reached behind her and pulled up her hood... right before an ominous presence appeared behind her.

"Let's get one thing straight, _Verde_... I am not some mere witch who requires a wand to fight. I am a _Mist_. I do not require weapons or special toys to become dangerous..." said Viper with a snarl.

Verde suddenly flinched back, as he felt something tap on his shoulder. He turned to find... something straight out of a horror movie.

"And let's not forget something very important... I could render all your little toys useless simply by flaring my magic around them repeatedly in high doses."

Verde flinched as the monster opened it's yaw to reveal multiple rows of teeth while growling in a manner that sent shivers down his spine.

"Of course there is one fact you clearly haven't taken into account. I have yet to hit the full stride of pregnancy hormones, which I can assure you will only make me far more vicious considering how bad I can get while sick," concluded Viper.

Fon wisely said nothing, as he vividly remembered how bad Viper got when forced to stay in bed with the flu. She did not handle being sick well, but she never took it out on him outside of some rather cranky statements.

Verde shivered...this illusion was creeping him the hell out.

"Alright enough!" he said loudly flinching.

"Apologize properly or else."

"I'm sorry!" said Verde.

The monster paused from devouring Verde... before fading into the mists. He shuddered.

"Note to self... do not piss off Viper while sick," said Reborn.

"So what's the mission this time?" asked Viper.

"Retrieval, specifically something stolen in the wrong hands," said Skull.

"Let's get this over with," said Viper tiredly.

At least now she had a home to go back to, even if Theo was currently off visiting his grandmother and the others in England. It was almost hard to believe she spent so much time running away from that headache. And now she had reminded them she existed. Thank magic they were still too busy trying to find her to actually get on her nerves.

With any luck her notoriety will have faded without their damn golden girl to fawn over.

* * *

The mission didn't take longer than a month, and when it was over Fon decided to find out exactly how much his wife did know about combat without Flames or magic.

As it turned out, she was a decent fighter in her own right, though her throwing arm could use a lot of work. It was rather refreshing that he didn't have to work from scratch, and instead merely had to refine her technique and teach her some new ones to play around with.

Of course, teaching usually lead to the bedroom as it got Fon's interest worked up. It didn't help that Viper had a habit of wearing nothing more than a sports bra and a pair of sweat pants while training, meaning her face was clearly visible and so were her eyes.

It had been with some debate on whether to do an ultrasound or use magic. In the end, magic won simply because healers could be oath bound to keep their silence and they didn't need easily hacked machines to find out the gender of their child.

Fon was right beside Viper, holding her hand and eagerly awaiting for the results.

Only for both of them to be thrown for a loop.

"Twins?" said Fon in shock. One had been a pleasant surprise... twins was a shock.

"Congratulations... you're going to have a boy and a girl," said the clan's healer.

"You had to jinx it," said Viper.

"To be fair I wasn't expecting this."

Viper's grin was suddenly pure mischief. Fon discovered he did not like the way she looked at the moment... it only spelled trouble for him.

"What?"

"I just realized that this time I won't have to suffer the...joys...of having a newborn in the house alone this time."

The healer snickered behind her hand. It was well known Viper had raised a son alone for almost sixteen years, and that she had been a single parent through the entire process. The idea of her having Fon do most of the work like changing diapers would make any woman laugh.

At least Viper had previous experience to fall back on. Well, the raising part anyway. They would have to go through the joy of expectant parents for the first time together.

Knowing they were having twins (and giving their family the news... Biyu was over the moon having twice the little ones to spoil) made a lot of people happy.

* * *

Viper was eight months along when she was forced to concede defeat. Walking around with all the extra weight was making things rather difficult. At least she was finally getting along with Luce... sharing pregnancy pains was one thing they could bond over while subtly encouraging Lal to at least give her wayward student a shot.

Reborn looked like a deer in headlights when they turned him into their personal gopher, while Fon tried not to laugh...and discreetly took pictures.

"How is it that your husbands aren't the one dealing with your pregnancy cravings?" demanded Reborn. He took their 'sense of humor' with a grain of salt, mostly because he knew it was all in good fun. They'd never force him to do something too humiliating...and it kept Viper from unleashing any number of very terrifying things if he didn't comply.

"My husband is dead, and Viper's has been a very good sport about her pain so we're giving him a break. Besides, you know the real fun starts once she goes into labor," said Luce grinning.

Fon almost had a panicked look on his face. Viper had a very strong grip when she put her mind to it.

"Any idea what their names are going to be at least?" asked Reborn.

Luce beamed at him.

"I'm naming her Aria."

"Jasmine and Syaoran," said Viper without hesitation. Reborn sputtered.

"You're having twins?"

"I blame Fon for jinxing me when I told him what the possible names I picked would be," said Viper.

"I didn't think you would have twins on your first try!" said Fon in his defense.

"I'm related to Molly Prewitt ne Weasley," deadpanned Viper. "I'm not that surprised."

"Really?" said Luce, intrigued.

"Having large numbers of children is normal for the Prewitt family. She had seven before she finally gave it up, though I think that was only because she finally had a daughter."

Fon had a decidedly panicked look on his face.

"Relax. While I would love a big family seven is a bit much for me. I'd rather adopt orphans first," said Viper. Besides, she was having both on the first try.

That seemed to calm him down a bit. Luce snickered.

"So who are you going to bring in to serve as your Sun and Rain?" asked Luce.

"My what?"

Fon blinked at the question as well.

"Well it's fairly common for pregnant Flame users to have a Sun on standby for emergency healing, and a Rain to keep the father from panicking and causing a scene during birth... it also relieves a lot of the stress," said Luce.

"I...honestly didn't know that," admitted Viper. "I suppose we could drag Reborn in...if he's not too much of a coward to handle it."

"Oh god no..."

"Relax, I'll be nice and let you wear ear plugs," said Viper. "As for Rain, why not Lal?"

"She doesn't seem the 'peaceful' type," said Luce dryly.

" _I heard that. If you want a Rain who could probably stomach what you're about to put them through, I could recommend that idiot student of mine,"_ said Lal over the comms.

Luce clapped her hands in delight.

"I've been wanting to meet that student of yours!"

"He's like an over eager German Shepard puppy," said Viper. "But as Rains go, he's not that bad. Just keep him away from the explosives and any big guns."

Colonello was cute...in an overly enthusiastic way. And his love of explosives, large guns and general havoc made him easy to like. He adored Viper purely because she was amusing herself by helping him with trying to woo Lal Mirch.


	10. Chapter 10

Fon cringed not from the sheer variety of insults and swear words Viper knew, but from her grip on his arm.

Reborn was nearby, thankful Viper at least let him wear ear plugs. Colonello had looked panicked at first when the contractions started, but once the Tranquility aspect kicked in a lot of the pain dulled to the point Viper wasn't screaming as loud.

And she had to endure twice what Luce would go through in a month.

Finally the first cry of a newborn was heard, to Viper's relief. Biyu promptly took the little boy into a side area which was separated by screens and privacy spells, but allowed a clear view of what was going on for the parents.

Syaoran squalled loudly, proving he had inherited his mother's set of very healthy lungs.

Thirty minutes later, Jasmine was born, and Viper was about wiped out.

"You know most new mothers start informing their husbands that they're never going to let the men touch them again," said Reborn amused. Fon shot him a dirty look.

Viper snorted.

"Most new mothers have never been put under the cruciatus for over five hours. Compared to that, this was only in the top three of the worst pain I've ever been in," she shot back. She winced as a wave of pain hit her. "Though next time I think I'll opt for a C-Section instead."

Reborn was nice enough to heal Fon's hand, while the healers cautiously allowed some of Viper's family in.

Theo beamed when he saw his new brother and sister...right up until he was told he would be the new go-to babysitter for when Viper needed a date night with Fon. On the plus side, free blackmail on his new siblings.

* * *

It had only been two weeks since Viper gave birth to the twins, but they were on a mission. Fon was absolutely not happy about it, but Luce said that since her delivery was so close she was cutting the missions off. At least until Aria was born.

They had no idea what was waiting for them on that mountain... but it left the majority of them very pissed off.

Even if Colonello insisted on tagging along to prove to Lal that if he could handle Viper in the delivery room, he could handle whatever it was she had been doing on the side.

There was a bright flash of light, Colonello shouting and trying to shield Lal from whatever was happening, and the familiar tang of heavy magic, before they knew no more.

When they woke up, they were all children with pacifiers around their neck. Viper was very angry about this. She knew a curse when she saw one.

"I'm sorry," said the tired voice of Luce.

"You knew this would happen?" said Viper, hissing at her.

"I did what was necessary..." started Luce.

"If you _dare_ use the phrase 'for the greater good' then I swear to magic I will find new ways to make you suffer," snarled Viper. "There has never been, nor will there ever be a reason to use that damn phrase in my presence that actually _means_ it. There is always another way. And what about your unborn daughter? Are you really that callous?"

Luce flinched at Viper's tone, while Fon stood silently behind his wife. He was angry over this as well, but at least it hadn't come from his Sky.

"YOU DAMN IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Looking over revealed Lal had been cursed...but her pacifier felt wrong and she could no longer access her Rain flames. Instead it seemed Colonello had taken her place, and he didn't regret the move one bit.

Reborn and Verde looked betrayed... right up until Fon sighed.

"I'm starting to see why we never harmonized with you in the first place. For a Sky, you're absolutely pathetic when it comes to holding up your end of the bond between a Sky and their Guardians."

Luce looked like she had been struck.

"What?"

"If she isn't our Sky, who is?" demanded Reborn, absolutely furious.

Fon held Viper's hand. She was positively radiating with fury at this point.

"She's been here all along," said Fon cryptically.

Reborn and Verde stared at Viper in shock. Skull, on the other hand, immediately hugged her.

"I am so glad you're our Sky and not Luce. I know you wouldn't have cursed us like this," he said.

Viper rubbed the Cloud's back, her anger finally calming down just a hair.

"Of course I wouldn't be so cruel as to put you under a curse like this. And I don't know what you were playing at, leading us here Luce, but it will never happen again. Consider our alliance with you over."

Luce flinched.

"However... that doesn't mean we won't keep an eye on Aria. I see no point in pushing the crimes of the mother onto her daughter," said Viper. "Besides, Syaoran and Jasmine could use a playmate they wouldn't have to hide things from."

"Wait, if you're a Sky as well, then why didn't you receive the orange pacifier instead of the Indigo?" asked Luce confused. Viper was just as strong as she was, possibly more so. It made no sense that she would become the Arcobelano Mist instead of the Sky.

"Because the only other Mist I know that could possibly match me in power is Theo. I'd rather take the curse than him. It's what a good mother and a good Sky would do... insure that their children and Guardians are safe from harm," said Viper flatly.

"This is going to be a nightmare to explain to our children..." said Fon tiredly.

"Not really. I trained Theo into having an open mind, I see no reason we can't instill the same thing in the twins. Normal is open to interpretation after all."

* * *

Theo laughed himself sick when he found out what happened...right up until Viper found some documents in the Black Family Library that said the curse was far more serious than they originally thought.

Being forced to look like toddlers and wear brightly colored pacifiers was one thing... learning that there was _never_ a documented case of the Arcobaleno curse being broken and that the pacifiers would slowly but surely drain their lives away over the course of a few decades was something else entirely.

One of her ancestors was chosen as the Arcobaleno Mist...and he wrote of his attempts to break the curse and the subsequent battles to release it several decades later.

Only to find out the hard way that according to another former Arcobaleno, there were only two options. Death or forced servitude as a Vindice. Needless to say as a member of the Black family, he chose death to servitude.

At least she had a list of things that _wouldn't_ work, which saved time in finding what _could_.

"Let me get this straight... all the Vindice are former Arcobaleno?" said Reborn openly horrified.

Viper nodded, having finished reading the diaries. Thank magic for old fashioned families and for the pure blood's need to grand stand. Or in this case, vent at having been fooled into being cursed and wanting to piss off the one who did it.

"More than that, apparently the entire reason we're trapped as children until our life spans are almost up is because otherwise the power of these pacifiers would overload and kill us. Supposedly it's to maintain order in the world, which I call bullshit on. There has to be a better way for order and life to be maintained without such a convoluted system. I highly suspect this entire mess was designed by a damn pure blood who found something that worked and didn't bother to find anything better," said Viper in disgust. Because really, the entire system reeked of that sort of lazy idiocy and half-assed planning.

Why else rely on three families and seven random people with strong flames to maintain the world, when families died off all the time? It was ridiculous beyond belief the arrogance behind it.

"How did you even find this information anyway?" asked Verde.

Viper rolled her eyes.

"Pure Bloods, especially from old families in England, have a habit of writing things down to show off how important they are to later generations. Especially if they've got far too much pride and have been tricked into being cursed like this. One of my ancestors was a Mist who did everything in his power to break the curse, only to discover how it would end and chose death over servitude. There are a lot of old diaries in the Black Family library, especially in the manor. I just had to know where to look...even if reading and trying to translate their piss-poor handwriting gave me migraines."

That seemed to soothe any suspicions that the information Viper found was fake.

Luce was relatively quiet, but then Aria was due to be born any day now. She was likely worried about how her daughter would be born if she was trapped as an infant herself.

That and she was still reeling from the revelation Viper was a Sky as well, one who had remained hidden and had taken her son's place as the Arcobaleno Mist.

That...and learning Mist was actually her secondary Flame, which meant her Sky flame must be ridiculously powerful.

"How are the children handling it?" asked Colonello. Jasmine and Syaoran were cute, and Theo was hilarious.

"Theo laughed his ass off until I found this diary and what our curse entailed. Normally I'd send Hermione after a way to break this, but I'm not that stupid."

Sending a Lightning like Hermione on this curse was a disaster waiting to happen, and she didn't rely on the girl as the sole source of information anymore. Besides, it would inevitably reveal the underworld to a girl who had grown up with strict morals and openly worried about following the rules until a war forced her to adjust...by which time she fell right back into old patterns of behavior to cope.

So no, introducing Hermione to the curse and asking her for help was not an option. She'd only get herself killed or captured by the mafia, or worse bring those fake-dementors who were apparently just like them at one time to Viper's doorstep for breaking Omerta.

Not a chance in hell.

Besides, Viper had gotten pretty damn good at digging up information people wanted to stay buried. And she had never cared for 'good' and 'evil' the way Hermione had. Information was information.

* * *

"Mama!"

Viper turned her attention to Jasmine, who was the first of the two to start talking. She leaned down slightly to pick up the infant who was already crawling and had a habit of following her mother around. Needless to say Viper made a point of walking slowly so her daughter could keep up.

Jasmine and Syaoran loved piggy back rides, and considering their curse it wasn't like they'd be able to give them as many as they liked once they got older.

Might as well enjoy it while they could.

Jasmine, being an actual child, didn't hesitate to stick her tongue out at Reborn.

Reborn, being an adult, rolled his eyes... but Viper caught him making silly faces at Jasmine when he thought she wasn't looking.

At this point Viper was just praying to whatever god was listening her daughter didn't somehow develop an interest in men like Reborn. It would only end up in a massive competition between her and Fon on who would scare off such fools from their daughter first.

Viper was torn between sympathetic and vicious as she watched Luce go into labor with Aria.

There was a weird light that emitted from the woman, which quickly turned into some form of cocoon. With a loud pop, it broke apart to reveal a tiny baby girl who was already squalling.

"Fascinating," said Verde.

"If I catch you experimenting on her, you _will_ suffer my wrath," said Viper immediately. Verde openly flinched.

"Duly noted."

Seeing Jasmine and Syaoran nearby, Viper grinned.

"Come meet your new little sister..."

Luce blinked.

"Really?"

"Can you think of anyone better to act as her siblings since there's no way you're going to have any more children that they can relate to? I told you before Luce, I won't condemn Aria just because of your little stunt. I know exactly what being punished for something your parents did feels like. This way they have a little sister to play with and protect, and Aria has siblings."

"Thank you."

"I'm a miser, not heartless. Besides, this gives me one more child to spoil rotten," said Viper shrugging.

She liked children, enough said.

Fon chuckled.

* * *

One of the things that sucked about being stuck as toddlers was date night was strictly limited to the "PG" rating. Needless to say both Fon and Viper were frustrated, particularly Viper. She had gone for a very long time without knowing that sort of intimacy and to have it taken away without so much as a warning... sure, she had two children she adored and a third who practically doted on his baby siblings, but she wanted to do more than be treated like a child _again_ when she had her husband around.

Because pedophilia was most certainly _not_ a kink either had, and just considering it was a libido killer.

Frustrated, Viper tried a combination of things, even if they were only temporary. About the only thing that came close to giving her some time with her husband was in her dreamscape. A pity she couldn't share...

Viper felt like hitting the nearest hard surface.

"I'm a bloody idiot. Am I a Mist and a witch or not?" she muttered in Italian.

Fon looked at her oddly from where he was reading something.

"Hm?"

"Hang on, I want to try something..." she said. She sat down in a way that she wouldn't tip over once she was out of range of consciousness, then delved into her mental landscape.

It was a copy of her home with Theo, though it had some areas. Opening the front door lead to a beautiful clearing where Fon had brought her right before their honeymoon, mostly to ease any tension she had.

This was her realm, and she had a connection to Fon via their Flames and their magic. With a thought, she shifted into her true age, in one of the dresses she had from his clan.

When she didn't revert to an infant form, a grin appeared on her face.

"Why didn't I try this sooner? I must be turning into a proper witch if I didn't consider this!" she said grinning. Another thought allowed her to open up a path between her and Fon's mind.

Needless to say Fon was very startled seeing the clearing, much less Viper in her real age.

"What... how?"

"I'm a Mist. The only limits to what I can create are ones I impose on myself. We might be limited in the real world, but here I control everything... including..."

Fon blinked, and a split second later he was at his real age as well. The implications hit him like a brick before a wicked smile appeared on his face.

He kissed his wife eagerly, and it felt identical to the real thing.

"You are absolutely brilliant."

"We might not be able to do anything in the real world, but at least here we are free," said Viper, snuggling into his arms.

"Can you make the connection permanent?"

"I can look into it. It is my dreamscape after all. But first, we might want to wake up before someone finds us passed out. Tonight though..."

Fon's smirk at the idea was almost like something Reborn would have had on his.


	11. Chapter 11

Viper was in an irritated mood. There was stubborn and then there was just being Stupid because of Pride. And she was sick and tired of feeling the hurt from Colonello because Lal was too proud to admit her feelings.

"You want me to _what,_ kora?!" said Colonello staring at her.

"This little thing you and Lal have going on has got to stop. And I don't mean I want you to give up on her completely."

Colonello stared.

"What do you have in mind?"

Viper smirked. Before Colonello realized it, he was looking at an _adult_ Viper in a rather elegant Victorian dress.

"What... my voice!"

"In this place, the curse doesn't exist. Of course what's true here will not always hold true in the real world, but it's close enough for what we use it for," said Viper.

Colonello stared at his _real_ hands, not the tiny ones he had been forced to get used to. Feeling a gentle touch on his cheek, Viper was giving him a kind smile.

Underneath her grumpy, miserly front that she put on to protect herself was a warm heart that genuinely wanted to see people happy.

Reborn had once jokingly called her the "Mothering Mist", and the nickname stuck.

"What do you have in mind?"

Viper smirked. Colonello had a shiver go down his spines.

"Well since Lal is fully embracing her proud 'tsun' side, I say it's time we draw out the 'dere' side of her," said Viper grinning.

The more he listened, the bigger his grin got. This was going to be good!

* * *

 _With Lal..._

The first indication of something going on was when she found herself in a romantically decorated house with plenty of candles, soft music that was pleasing to the ear, and some very soft bedding. All around was the scent of the same roses he sent her whenever the occasion popped up. The white and lavender flowers brought a pleasing scent to the air.

It didn't take a genius to figure up Colonello was trying to 'woo' her again.

Lal growled. Her damn student was going to be in for it...especially when she realized she was bound by some very soft silk ropes she couldn't break. More than that, she was in a light dress that even she could tell was easily ripped apart.

However it was the sight that greeted her when Colonello walked in that had any complaints she had die cold.

"What... how?"

"Viper set this up because she was pissed they were stuck as toddlers and couldn't be with Fon properly," he explained, shrugging. Then a grin appeared on his face. His _adult_ face. "She's also pissed that you're letting your pride get in the way of something that could be good for you... so she cut us off while she's off with Fon. She'll let us out by morning."

Lal's face went red from embarrassment...or anger.

"So this is just an illusion?"

"Actually she said something about linking our minds together, since the curse doesn't affect that," said Colonello. Feeling his hand on her face, she wanted to bite him for it.

She wasn't going to let her stupid student do what he pleased.

"Lal, I literally took a curse that has no documented case of being broken that could kill me for you. I haven't once looked at any of the other females or even done more than lesser flirting since I started chasing you. Hell, I even take the abuse you dish out without complaint! What will it take for you to realize how much I love you?" said Colonello, dead serious.

Lal blinked as she processed this.

Colonello was an idiot...but she had never seen him even remotely try to date any of the other girls, some of whom were much more...well figured...than she was. Most of them were a lot less prickly than she could be, and she had seen more than a few looking at Colonello with open interest.

If he had gone after anyone else, he would have already been dating, or hell, even married by now.

He had taken a curse for her...she had a remote chance of being free since the most she suffered was that her primary was cut off and her secondaries were freed along with being reduced in size.

Colonello didn't say anything when tears came down her face, realizing what a fool she was. Instead he just kissed her.

"Let me show you how much I love you," he said.

* * *

Fon looked to the 'secluded area' Viper had more or less sectioned off with her will. They couldn't see or influence anything that happened there, but they knew it existed.

Viper snuggled into Fon.

"Either Lal finally realizes Colonello genuinely loves her, or he gets it through his head that it's not meant to be."

Fon chuckled.

"I wonder how Reborn would react to this place."

"If he found someone who truly loves him like those two do, I might make his own connection."

Because depending on how this went, Viper would make a permanent little area for the two Rains, just like she had a permanent area for the children including Aria.

Theo and the others didn't mind her dreamscape connections, because it meant they had a place where they could feel safe and connect with each other without having to worry about being overheard.

By morning, Colonello had a shit eating grin and was thanking the Misty Sky profusely while asking if this could become a permanent thing. When he woke up with Lal lying next to him, despite being in another country at the time (her Tsun-side had demanded she leave from the embarrassment) there was some confusion and shock from the woman before she demanded answers.

She still hit him the first chance she had in the real world when she found out Viper had made it permanent...and that no matter where she tried to run, he'd be able to slip into that mindscape and drag her with him in the process to relax.

She didn't complain too much though, even if her Tsun side found the fact she had found _the one_ and he was an idiot.

Viper was _bored_ beyond belief. She had considered the days spent raising the children as a vacation, and a welcome one.

Jasmine and Theo were dating, and Syaoran was learning under his father to act as a neutral enforcer in the same way Fon was. At least until he found a Sky worthy of his loyalty.

Considering who his parents were, none of the Triad Skies were willing (read: Stupid) to force the issue.

She sighed.

Fon was off performing a mission for the Triads with their son right at his side. Like Fon, he was a Storm but there were hints of Sky flame from the twins. It was merely waiting to be woken up.

Jasmine was firmly a Mist like her mother, though she had a thing for Clouds.

Viper was sooo bored!

So when she was approached by the Varia about possibly becoming their new Mist officer, after a little training...she was honestly tempted.

Just not under the current administration.

"I think it would be good for you," said Fon.

"Yes, but the current leader is a complete idiot. You know I don't tolerate idiots."

The Varia were elite, and anyone who survived to make Officer was considered True Quality. Viper had it, she knew that without having to deal with any of their little tests.

But she also couldn't stand Tyr, much less the idiots he had working for him. Especially the sniveling Cloud that fool had. Ottabio should have been offed long before he made officer, it was that bad.

"Jasmine is almost ready to seek marriage, Theo is seriously dating a witch, and Syaoran and Aria are almost done with their extra education. Face it Viper, you need something to stimulate yourself."

"Mu. You may have a point," said Viper.

Then she saw a random Sun and an idea came to her.

"Maybe one of Reborn's friends in the Vongola will have something for me to do for a while."

Fon blinked, before he smiled.

Viper's only affiliation was through him and his clan. And he was a neutral which meant she could take such a contract.

"I heard the Vongola have a 'missing heir' pop up, one with quite a temper."

Viper smirked.

"That sounds perfect. New heirs always need training, and I could sign a temporary contract to bring them up to snuff."

Fon smiled. Some might question how he could let his wife take an extended contract far away from him, but after her work with the dreamscape they weren't that far apart. Not really. She had even learned to make temporary ones that were virtually undetectable.

* * *

 _In the Vongola Mansion..._

Hearing the sound of glass shattering onto the wall, Viper raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds like Xanxus is in one of his moods again," sighed Reborn. He didn't ask why Viper had chosen to tutor the volatile brat, and frankly he didn't really _care_. Xanxus was a total pain to deal with.

Viper was given a one month probationary period to see whether she could get through to the "Wrath" of the Vongola or not... or if she felt he wasn't worth her time.

Considering the number of tutors Xanxus had already sent to the hospital or running away crying his first three years after being brought in said volumes.

The first thing she did was politely knock on the door. The boy was already in a bad mood because his father told him of the new possible tutor.

Hearing the glass shatter against the door, she waited before walking in.

Needless to say Xanxus took a few moments to register that his new tutor was short.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked.

"Mu. I am Viper, your new tutor. Bad day?" she asked.

Xanxus glared at her.

Viper sighed, before she did the usual trick of creating a dream scape. It was filled with a lot of breakable things.

"Have fun. Heaven only knows that I've always enjoyed senseless destruction when I've had a bad day and felt pissed off. I can create as many as you need, so go wild."

Xanxus blinked for a few seconds, then a smirk appeared on his face.

For the next few hours, there was the sound of things being completely destroyed. Xanxus didn't let up until he had long since run out of steam.

He was breathing heavily, but the anger in his eyes had faded to something close to respect now.

"Mu. Feeling better?"

"Why?" asked Xanxus.

Viper didn't need to ask. She floated up to his shoulder and he barely reacted to her presence.

"I had a lot of rage about being controlled at your age too. I was manipulated and treated like a caged bird who's opinions and health were of no matter to the people around me, and it wasn't until I was literally forced to martyr myself that I realized how badly I had been deceived. It took over a decade before I was even remotely able to pull myself together and that was because I had someone who accepted me unconditionally. Believe me, I know _exactly_ what you're going through, but at least in your case there's no discreet abuse."

Xanxus blinked... before an unknown tension in his shoulders relaxed.

"I won't judge you, Xanxus. And I certainly won't give a damn if you need to vent. Swear, scream, hell I'll freely provide things for you to destroy. But I do have one rule. Never, ever lie to me."

Xanxus looked her in the eye, because she was wearing a modified Gothic dress and had her face visible. As far as anyone knew, Xanxus was being taught by Mystique, not Viper.

"What's in it for you?"

"My children are growing up and I'm bored. I'm mostly using you as a way to kill time and help someone who needs a little nudge in the right direction without being smothering at it," said Viper without any shame or hesitation. "I'm not going to replace your mother, unless you want me to, and I've raised three children. Nothing you say or do is going to get rid of me."

Xanxus stared at her. She was blunt in a very refreshing way and openly admitted what she was going to do and why. She was unapologetic and openly didn't care about what his status was... and more than that, she understood him in a way no one else in the damn mansion did.

He grinned, a sense of relief in his shoulder.

"Besides... if you really want to liven up the mansion there are more...efficient ways...than throwing one hell of a tantrum. Ways that can't be traced back if you do it right."

"I'm listening."

Viper had a smirk on her face...one that was soon mirrored by the almost teen when he realized what she was offering.

The unholy alliance of the Marauder and the Wrath had been formed.

The Vongola wouldn't know what hit it.

* * *

Reborn walked into the mansion...and frowned. Someone was trying to upstage his title as the King of Chaos and he didn't like it.

And then he found the source.

"You have got to be kidding me. Since when is the Mothering Mist a prankster?"

Viper paused in her instruction of how to set the trap so perfectly it was an almost guarantee Nono would be hit face first with a pie.

She turned and smirked at Reborn.

"Didn't George and Ginny tell you Reborn? I'm a Marauder. Pranks are in my blood. Who did you think gave them the start up capital for their joke business in the first place?"

Reborn glared. He was supposed to be the source of chaos, not her.

"Is he mad because he's being upstaged or because we didn't ask him to join in?" asked Xanxus.

"A bit of column A, but mostly column B. Want to help us get those uptight Guardians and set off a panic about a possible attack?"

Reborn's good mood returned in an instant. The chaos from that would be glorious and absolutely hilarious to watch.

He did note Xanxus seemed much calmer and a hell of a lot less angry after Viper started teaching him.


	12. Chapter 12

Xanxus originally didn't know what to think of the Mist Arcobaleno. Outside of the fact that he liked her immediately.

She didn't mince words, she was straight up with what she wanted him to do and why, she hated traitors even more than he did, and she gave him his space when he really needed it.

Being able to vent without having to deal with the old man's guardians on his ass about it was something that eased a lot of the tension in his shoulder.

He never thought that learning Victorian flower language could be so relaxing, much less fun. Being able to subtly insult a lot of people and tell girls to "fuck off" without being overtly rude about it was great.

The only time Viper let him get away with that was if the girl was really annoying, clingy, or just plain Trash. And even then she made him work through the ass for it.

If he was going to be rude and insulting to the point he sent a girl packing with tears in her eyes, then he was damn well going to do it with a much larger vocabulary that didn't just consist of a "Fuck off" with Wrath Flames.

It was a nice challenge and he thoroughly enjoyed it. His 'father' and his Guardians, not so much because they usually had to deal with the fallout.

They were already regretting allowing Viper to train Xanxus.

Xanxus would openly admit, Viper did fit the whole "Mothering Mist" as Reborn flat out called her. She mothered him, but didn't get smothering about it. She accepted his faults and when she disciplined him he actually accepted it.

Timoteo was an...acceptable...mafia don. He was not a very good father.

And under her suggestion, Xanxus went to take over the Varia. With the agreement that once he did and successfully became the Boss, she would take over as the Mist Officer for him and keep the books.

She had originally come to tutor him out of boredom after all, and she had been asked before. No way in hell was he turning down an offer like that.

Of course things did get awkward around Viper and Daneila when she saw how the two interacted.

* * *

Daniela frowned at her grandson's tutor. The woman was far too close to the boy and if not for the fact that she was trapped in an infant's body and happily married she would have openly suspected there was more than 'teaching' going on between them.

"What are your intentions for my grandson?"

Viper raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm giving him the support he _actually_ needs, not whatever scraps your son deigns to give him. Did you know that no one actually sat him down and explained to him how to do small things like order the shampoo he actually wants, instead of the floral nightmare he had been stuck with? And don't get me started on the arrogance of the Ninth or his Guardians."

Daniela raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You sound like you're Xanxus' mother, not his tutor."

"I did raise three children and I know anger issues. He doesn't need someone who will just tell him what to do and then yell at him when he doesn't understand how. He needs someone who will actually listen to him and accept his rage. Timoteo barely even looks at him, and the less said about how snide his Guardians are towards him the better. At least Enrico tries to be a good brother, even if there is a massive age gap."

Something inside Daniela relaxed. This wasn't an older woman taking advantage of a child. This was a fellow mother who was determined to at least give a small boy who had been thrown so far into the deep end he was drowning and lashing out at anyone who couldn't understand.

No wonder Xanxus' behavior took a sharp change.

"Xanxus is a very bright young man who has grown up on the streets with a mother who couldn't always be there for him. I merely show him which direction is the best for him to take and let him make his own mistakes, and I never lie or hold anything back from him. In exchange he's honest with me and at least listens to what I have to say first. And really, the fact your son hasn't told him the truth and is stringing him along with that lie isn't going to do anyone actual good."

"Stringing him along with a lie?"

"I'll give Timoteo credit for accepting Xanxus as one of his sons and making it clear that he is a member of the family... but not telling him that he's adopted is only going to backfire in the long term. Anyone with eyes that actually looks can tell they are nothing alike and that Xanxus shares _nothing_ in common with the older three or his 'father'."

Daniela winced.

"The rings are bloodlocked. Even if Xanxus did want to become Decimo, there's very little chance of it succeeded because he's not really born into it."

"And your son hasn't told him the truth or explained that fact to his face. He usually just reprimands the boy after another 'failure' to keep his temper or behavior in check with others and then I have to deal with the aftermath," sighed Viper.

The woman winced. That couldn't be fun for the Mist.

"I could have a talk with him..."

"Don't bother. If Timoteo hasn't realized his own mistake by now it's unlikely he'll actually listen. He's rather stubborn in that respect," said Viper sourly.

"You tried to tell him before, didn't you?"

"He threatened to cancel my contract because I told him flat out that either man up and be a real father to Xanxus by telling him the truth about their relationship, or I would," said Viper bluntly. "I don't like the way he's toying with his heart like this."

The second he tried to pull that move, Viper had slapped him down with her Flames. The look on the man's face was totally worth it, especially since Reborn neglected to mention the fact Viper was a very powerful Sky in her own right.

Now he considered her more of a rival for power than a mere Mist he could reprimand.

"I'm going to tell Xanxus to take over the Varia. He wouldn't have the patience for CEDEF and Iemitsu disgusts both of us with his prattling."

Daniela nodded in approval. Leading the Varia was one thing her son couldn't take from her grandson.

* * *

He had done it. He had taken over the position as head of the Varia and he had proven himself.

Best of all, Viper (now renamed Mammon because apparently real Quality required code names for some obscure reason) was now firmly in place as the Mist officer. She (and a very select few knew of her real gender) had the entire Mist Division eating out of her hands in a week. She tolerated chaos, but she didn't tolerate badly written expense reports and people thinking they could get away with all the requisition orders without having something to show for it.

Xanxus was one of the few actually laughing when Mammon went after the entire Varia with her illusions and forced them all to rewrite it _by hand_ until they had a better idea of their budget.

Only to stop when he found out what a mess the Varia funds were. There was a half assed job of keeping it above the black, but with Mammon in charge that wouldn't fly anymore.

She was known as the Miser Mist for a reason long before she became an Arcobaleno.

By the time she had a semblance of order to the budget, she was given a message from her daughter.

Mammon floated to the Boss' office.

"What?!" he demanded.

"My daughter Jasmine is about to have her first child."

Xanxus paused.

"If you're asking for a bit of leave..." he started, though both knew he would give it, no questions asked.

"No, I was about to ask if you wanted to dump your paperwork on your Rain for a week so you can get a break and meet my family. My husband in particular is eager to meet the angry young man I corrupted to pranks. To say nothing of Theo and the twins."

There was a longer pause, before a vicious grin came on his face.

"Oh hell yes. No way am I filling out paperwork while you're out... you're the only one who can do those silent territories without anyone noticing!"

The Varia was full of crazy, broken assassins, many of which had personality issues that made them so effective. Like Lussuria, Xanxus' Sun Officer. However that went hand in hand with chaos, noise and general mayhem that made paperwork an even more hellish experience than normal.

The smart Officers paid Mammon a flat fee to create silent territories for a few hours so they could do the paperwork without wanting to kill someone. That and she rented out time turners so they could divide and conquer the damn things with their past selves.

It still counted!

It didn't take long for Xanxus to pack for a week. Mammon was using a Mist Corridor, which was far less annoying than explaining why they were ditching work for a week. Besides, they had a camera to record Squalo's reaction when he found out the Boss had taken a vacation without telling anyone.

 _In Japan..._

Xanxus had a very...odd...expression on his face.

Mammon's family was beyond strange. There were so many people there to greet the new addition, and all of them were equally eager to meet Xanxus properly.

Theo had taken one look at him and had openly welcomed him to the family without even a second thought. Fon had greeted his wife before nodding in greeting, as if he honestly believed Xanxus _deserved_ to be there.

It was a far cry from how the Vongola treated him, like he was a barely tolerated brat that they had to live with because he was the old man's son.

Hell, even the other Arcobaleno acknowledged the fact that Xanxus had joined Mammon as something they didn't think was even worth considering otherwise.

It bothered him so much he ended up commenting on it to the second son Syaoran about it, after a few shots of hard liquor.

Syaoran snorted.

"We knew she was unofficially adopting you as part of our family when she started making regular reports to us through the dreamscape. You could hear the same pride she has in her other children about how well you were progressing, and after a point we just accepted you were one of us and moved on. When it comes to our mother, family does not end in simple blood ties."

Xanxus was silent for a minute, before throwing another shot back.

He honestly didn't know how to feel about that.

Just from the way he said it alone, it sounded as if they accepted him as another little brother the moment Viper took him on as a student. That he had become part of their family and he hadn't even known it until now.

The Vongola certainly didn't treat him like that. The only ones that even remotely tried were his grandmother Daniela and his older brother Enrico.

It felt... nice.

A few days later, Kyouya Hibari was born and greeted by a rather large family. Because of the dangers that came with their world, Mammon immediately placed the same 'tracker' that all her children and even her fellow Arcobaleno had.

 _In the Varia Mansion..._

"VOI! Dammit you boss, how could you leave all this shit to me and just ditch without saying anything!" shouted Squalo. Luss snickered...while bringing the poor Rain more coffee.

* * *

 _A few months later..._

Daniel Corvus Lupin-Potter-Black was a squalling baby that even Xanxus could tell would be a powerful Mist when he got older. He had his father's ability to change his form, even if it was more or less his hair at the moment.

However while Xanxus could respect Theo, he couldn't respect his wife. Something about her seemed...off. A fact that panned out less than a year later when Daniel went missing and the woman was the reason why.

She didn't like Viper and she had only married Theo for his money. A fact that pissed off Viper more than anything.

Xanxus learned a few very important things that day.

One, Viper was a _hell_ of a vicious bitch when angered and her son wasn't much better. Two, never piss off a Black.

They still couldn't find Daniel.

* * *

"Shishishi..."

Mammon stared at the little boy Xanxus had more or less dragged into the Varia and named his new Storm officer. The kid couldn't be more than eight at least.

"Miser brat, this is your new partner."

Mammon ignored the nickname, and caught the words Xanxus _wasn't_ saying to her.

He wanted her to do for "Belphegor" what she had done for him. The kid was clearly damaged and more than a little unhinged.

Belphegor smirked at the toddler, clearly thinking he could dominate the cloaked Mist. Xanxus smirked.

Mammon hadn't even batted an eye when _he_ threw a massive tantrum, there was no way some baby Storm was going to get her to back down. Especially since he had seen the video of one of Syaoran's more... memorable years as a teen, when he went through his rebellious stage.

Fon had been completely out of his depth, trying to sooth his son with meditation or other exercises to calm the spirit.

Viper handled the whole situation like a pro, the same way she handled Xanxus.

She gave him a place where he could destroy all he wanted until he could think clearly and basically told him to go nuts if he wanted. He could rant and rave about how he thought he felt about whatever was on his mind and she would let him vent.

Once he exhausted himself, Fon would take over and push his son through some very hard training.

By the time Syaoran realized what a brat he had been, he thanked every god he could think of that his mother had the patience of a saint and knew damn well what it was like to keep rage bottled in.

Viper knew intimately what it was like to be an angry teenager who had the whole world against you, or so it felt like. How it had only hurt her in the long run to keep it inside, instead of being allowed to get everything out so she could think clearly.

Fifteen was not a good year for her, but ironically helped the most when it came to raising children. If she could weather the emotional mess that had been her fifth year of magical schooling _and_ losing her godfather, she could handle a few bitchy teenagers.

* * *

Belphegor whimpered. He hated thunderstorms and this one was particularly nasty. He had been hit with lightning several times because he hadn't known to avoid trees during storms and his crown was metal, making it worse.

Being hit the first time hurt. The second time was hell and it made him hate the lightning all the more.

He just hoped no one would come in and see him like this. He had a reputation to keep and he didn't want the peasants to get ideas.

Hearing the door opened, he managed to peek out of his covers to glare at the intruders...only to be stopped cold when he realized who it was.

It was the stupid Mist baby Mammon.

"What do you want?" he snarled. He didn't want to look weak.

Mammon said nothing, merely floated over to the bed and set down on the covers, before walking up to him. He glared under his bangs...right as the thunder hit and he flinched without meaning too. The Mist didn't say a word, just stood there looking at him, cloak obscuring their face.

He barely even realized when they gently put their hand on his face, and he hissed at her.

"Don't..." he started, before he realized something.

He couldn't hear thunder anymore. In fact, he didn't even look like he was in his room.

He looked around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on...when he registered warm hands around him. The touch was gentle, comforting... it was confusing.

"Shitty brat... if you hated thunderstorms you should have said something sooner," said a familiar voice.

"Boss?" said Belphegor, peering over the arms.

Feeling the boss' hand on his head, he slowly relaxed.

"Sleep, little prince. You can be brave in the morning," whispered a gentle voice of a woman. He looked up and had trouble recognizing her...but she felt familiar. She started to hum something he didn't know, but the voice was warm and gentle.

He didn't even realize when he had fallen asleep to the arms holding him until he woke up the next morning.


	13. Chapter 13

Luss took one look at the way Belphegor relaxed to having Mammon on his shoulder, and hid a smirk.

The Mothering Mist had struck again.

It wasn't a well known fact in the Varia and most would have trouble believing that the heartless miser known as Mammon had a habit of finding the most broken of the lot and giving them some "free therapy".

But the truth was that Mammon, for all their snide comments and miserly ways, was the kindest of them all. Something Luss knew personally.

Mammon had gone straight to Luss after seeing some of the more Stupid assassins make hurtful comments about his preferences, or the fact he was clearly an okama. He could shake off the worst of them with ease...he had done so since coming out.

Except the Mist hadn't accepted his way of 'ignoring' the pain, and had promptly drawn him into an odd field of flowers.

Seeing her (because he was one of the rare few who knew Mammon was a woman and was married with three children and now two grandchildren) there, Luss had been openly confused as to what she was doing.

Except there was no confusion left when she openly hugged him and patted him on the head.

Feeling complete acceptance from her felt like a weight being taken off his shoulders. She let him simply relax and not have to hide the hurt of being harassed because of who he was or his preferences.

Ever since that time, Luss kept an eye on Mammon. Mostly out of curiosity.

And he noticed something.

The Boss was unusually close with his Mist, and he didn't behave like a Wrath towards a subordinate... but more like a broken child would a favored parent. It was subtle and you had to know what to look for, but Xanxus was less inclined to throw glasses as Mammon than he was Squalo, and the two were best friends.

Mammon would automatically create territories for the Boss every time he had a meeting with Nono over anything. The Boss would disappear for hours and come out looking far more even tempered despite the fact he was pissed.

The one time Mammon had been on a mission and Nono had pulled the Boss in for a meeting... the results weren't pretty and Squalo definitely appreciated the Mist even more finding out what Xanxus' coping methods for how angry he was were. If throwing glass was his way of expressing annoyance, what he did after seeing Nono or his Guardians could only be described as a damn hurricane where no one was safe.

No one except Mammon, who would calmly float onto his shoulder and say nothing.

And just looking at Belphegor's behavior said volumes, which made Luss hide a smirk.

Mothering Mist indeed. If Luss was the "big sister" of the group, chiding at them whenever they were hurt and telling them off, the Mammon was definitely the patient mother who stepped in when someone was desperately needed to set the world right again. To tell them that things would find a way of working out one way or another, and hold them when comforting was needed without saying a word.

Somehow, it didn't shock Luss in the least that Mammon was a powerful Sky as well as the strongest Mist.

* * *

Xanxus didn't say a word as he saw how Belphegor took to Mammon. It was clear the brat had needed someone as badly as Xanxus had needed her.

He was just glad that Mammon was no Mary Poppins, which was ironic considering the Mist was actually British.

And then he found the diary, and his eyes clouded over with rage.

That fucking old man... he lied to him from the very beginning!

 _With Mammon..._

She sighed, knowing exactly why Xanxus' area was practically storming worse than any hurricane or squall.

She had stolen the diaries deliberately so he could eventually find them. The old bastard had this coming for years.

Seeing Xanxus storm into her room, she said nothing and switched them over.

"I see you found the books I stole from storage," she said.

Xanxus blinked.

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew. Why did you think that old fool started looking at me like a threat instead of your minder when you were thirteen? I told him off for lying and not having the balls to tell you the truth about the rings to your face. Hell, even Daniela agreed he was being particularly dense about it."

Xanxus gave her a long look, and she knew if she didn't answer this the right way he would never trust her again.

"He threatened to terminate the contract I had to teach you... so I may have reprimanded him in a way he wouldn't like."

The Wrath looked at her expectantly... so she Flared her Flames in warning. _All_ of her Flames.

Being nearly drowned in the most powerful Sky he had ever felt made his eyes widened.

"You know what they say about two Skies in the same area. Either they take to each other or they attempt to kill each other. I let that fool off with a warning that if he pissed me off further he'd be getting into a fight he wouldn't win, even with his Guardians. After all... I am the Sky of the Arcobaleno."

"But you're the Mist."

Mammon's smile was tired.

"The only other person even close to my strength as a Mist is Theo."

And if that didn't explain everything about why she lied about her Flame primary, nothing did. Despite everything Theo had managed to avoid being dragged into their world, and only made brief visits.

Above all, Mammon put family first and damn the consequences. If she ever found where her missing grandson Daniel disappeared to, she'd gladly make the world burn to retrieve him.

And kill whoever was stupid enough to hide him from her. With a great deal of enthusiastic help from those around her, like Xanxus.

The Wrath looked at her, before he sighed. He couldn't get angry with her... it was impossible too, even if he refused to admit the reason why to himself.

"How the fucking hell am I supposed to react to this?" he asked.

"Do you still consider him your father, even knowing the truth?"

Xanxus had no idea how to feel about this. Timoteo was...tolerable if barely acceptable as a mafia boss or parent, but his Guardians were all assholes and had gone out of their way to make him feel like he didn't belong and lorded over their position every chance they had.

However if Xanxus had to state who had been a better role model/parent in his life, he would have stated outright it was Viper. Daniela had at least been straight with him and Enrico had _tried_ to make him feel like part of the family.

But to be honest, being around Viper's family had felt more like the real thing than any moment he could think of as a Vongola.

Mammon walked to him and put her hand on his cheek. It was blazing from repressed rage, hurt and pain.

"Remember what I told you about family," she said firmly.

Xanxus attempted to take a calming breath.

"Family doesn't end in blood."

"You don't have to claim Timoteo as family, but there are others in the Vongola."

Xanxus thought of the kindness shown to him by Nonna and his older brothers. Iemitsu didn't even cross his mind at all.

He still had family among the Vongola...but Timoteo was on very thin ice and he wouldn't tolerate the shit from his Guardians anymore.

Also, he was going to prank the ever loving shit out of that damn mansion before he left. Reborn might be a chaos-loving pain in the ass, but Viper? She was a fucking Master at leaving behind chaos that took _weeks_ to get rid of and provided endless entertainment if you weren't on the wrong end of it.

The Sun had been so put out about discovering this fact that he actually pouted whenever someone brought it up!

Seeing the look in his eyes, Mammon smirked evilly.

"Want me to bring the twins along with Belphegor? We could make a family bonding time out of it."

The grin on Xanxus' face was unholy and downright evil.

"Fuck yeah. Hell, bring Fon with us too. We're going to make Reborn pout for months because he missed out on this shit."

Mammon's chuckle was evil.

"That's my boy," she said proudly. Xanxus preened, the pain of betrayal at learning he was adopted being dulled by the knowledge of the hell they were about to unleash.

* * *

It would later be called the Cradle Affair, though the details of what actually happened would be sketchy as hell for anyone who hadn't lived through it.

 _Officially_ Xanxus lead several members of the Varia into an attempted coup against Nono for reasons that were never explicitly said.

Unofficially it was the day the entire Vongola and CEDEF learned what it meant to piss off the 'son' of a Marauder who was more than happy to make it a family affair and pranked the every loving shit out the entire Vongola Familigia.

Daniela had laughed herself sick for a week upon learning the full details and seeing the memories of it from Mammon herself, among others.

Xanxus got to yell at Nono for lying to him all these years, and Nono realized what a dangerous enemy he made of Mammon.

Even if the _only_ reason Xanxus wasn't a Popsicle at the moment was the bait and switch Mammon pulled at the last possible second with a subtle territory. Finding out his _adopted_ father had been perfectly willing to ice him in the literal sense, and not simply put a bullet through his skull, had hit him hard.

Most of his rage spent, and knowing the full extent Timoteo was willing to prolong his suffering out of some misconceived kindness, Xanxus disappeared in the background.

He willingly went under a fidelius-inspired hiding.

The secret being that "Xanxus was 'iced' by Timoteo and is in the basement of the mansion".

Those that had proven themselves trustworthy were quietly told the secret and warned that trying to alert Nono his son was very much still active and _not_ frozen would end up in a fate worse than death on top of whatever Xanxus did to them.

He was not happy about this, at all.

* * *

If one were to ask Frederico how his 'life' would have ended, he never would have said that his 'missing' youngest brother Xanxus would show up out of the blue, kidnap him with a body double, and then let him watch his own 'death' safely behind a Mist illusion.

Seeing the patsy burned to nothing but bones, and his own "guardians" having failed him so spectacularly, Frederico gulped.

That was far too close, and he would be dead if not for Xanxus.

"Mu. This is getting ridiculous. Once was bad luck, but this reeks of incompetence," said Mammon scathingly.

Frederico couldn't find it in him to argue. He was still in shock.

"Tch. And the old man still didn't explain to any of them what a Guardian bond actually is, or put a proper guard on my brothers after what happened to Enrico. Fucking trash."

Mammon floated over to Frederico, and his eyes were caught in the indigo-orange of the Mist.

"Mu. I hope you understand the stakes of what is going on. I highly doubt your father will comprehend the wake up call he desperately needs, if things have gotten this bad. We are going to put you under hiding and preferably assist you in finding _proper_ Guardians that we will train to be Quality. The ones you 'had' before were pathetic," said Mammon flatly.

"Why? I thought you hated us after what happened."

"I hate the old man for lying to my face for so long and not having the balls to tell me the fucking truth. But you and the others were nicer to me that the old fucker or his Guardians, even if you were too busy to properly notice something was up. We're still family," said Xanxus flatly.

Frederico knew Xanxus valued Family very highly indeed.

"How did you know..."

"I put a tracker on you after Enrico died. Now we'll have to see if he learned from his mistakes and insures Massimo actually has proper guardians, or if we'll need to do damage control with him as well."

Frederico was relieved.

"And if he doesn't?" asked Frederico.

"Then we'll reveal we saved your sorry ass and throw you back into the lion's pride with actual Guardians to tell Timoteo where he can shove his idea for protection. I warned him he was crossing the line before we joined the Varia and that if he didn't shape up I would steal Xanxus from him," said Mammon flatly.

"Wait, what?" said Xanxus.

"I told Timoteo flat out that if he didn't come clean I would subvert any loyalty you might have had to him towards me, without using brute force like he was doing," repeated Mammon.

Frederico eyed his younger brother.

"Tch. Not like the old bastard deserved it. At least you cared enough to see something was wrong," said Xanxus, as if he didn't just admit he would happy look the other way if something happened to his adopted father.

At this point, he was glad Xanxus still considered him his older brother enough to save his ass from certain death.


	14. Chapter 14

"Explain to me again, _in detail_ , how the hell I became the Varia's on-site therapist."

Mammon was not pleased, especially since it happened entirely by accident. Somehow word had spread that she had more of a heart than she let on, and with the right bribe she could give you life advice that actually worked.

Which automatically translated as "therapist that wouldn't run away screaming".

On the plus side, she never had to pay for her favorite chocolates, milks or any of her other favorite foods again. On the downside, she had to abuse her time turner just to get the accounting done on time.

Lussuria laughed nervously.

"You have to admit, you're rather good at it."

"Only because they bribe me with treacle tart!" complained Mammon. She couldn't resist a good treacle tart, and being able to enjoy her addiction was a small price to pay just to listen to the Varia lackeys whine. That and the fresh strawberry milk straight from the dairy farms still cold.

Xanxus had laughed himself sick when he realized what was going on. Served her right for not kicking out the lackeys when she had the chance.

At least she was able to calm Belphegor down long enough to get the accidental job out of the way. Giving him random images of people she knew was a good way to keep him occupied for hours.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, Xanxus had gleefully installed a "light" above Mammon's door that told the lackeys when she was available. All of whom were armed with a suitable "bribe" for the Mothering Mist to hear their problems out.

Luss patted Mammon's head with sympathy. The people who made up the Varia avoided his division like the plague unless they had no other choice (assassins didn't make good patients), but they came to Mammon willingly when they needed someone to talk to.

Though more than once after hearing them out she dumped them on Lussuria anyway, bound and gagged until they were better. At this point she was thanking every god she knew that none of them bothered her over medical questions.

Just then, Mammon's personal phone started ringing.

"Time is money. Do not waste mine," said Mammon on reflex... then her attitude changed completely. "Jasmine, calm down and talk. What's wrong?"

Lussuria listened to the one-sided conversation, and grinned watching Mammon in mothering mode. It was always fun to see the "Miser Mist" switch to her real self.

"So Kyouya-kun is giving you no end of trouble and won't listen to you, and he definitely doesn't like Fon, is that it?" she said in exasperation.

Kyouya clearly took after his grandfather in looks, but his personality couldn't be any more different. To make matters worse, he was definitely a Cloud Flame with his attitude.

Clouds were very territorial, and most were lucky to make it past their teenage years.

Mammon was already making plans to go to Namimori.

"Must be tough, balancing out your duties here and being a grandmother on top of it."

Mammon paused at the door, before a strange smile came across her face.

"Yes, but I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. After all, there's nothing I wouldn't do for family."

Lussuria waved her off, though he was openly smiling.

Mammon pretended to be a money-obsessed miser, but in reality she was someone who had a bigger heart than anyone he had ever met. She had taken the Varia under her wings and considered them family, even if most didn't recognize that fact. It was because of her that the Boss was so big on protecting their own, and why he was safe from the stupidity of his so-called father.

She was the living, breathing heart of their world.

* * *

Kyouya knew someone very important was coming today. His mother was in a total state of panic, and from the way she was behaving it was clear this was someone similar to the carnivore she had brought in a few months ago in the hopes of calming him down.

Instead she found out he was a powerful Cloud Latent, one that only needed a slight nudge to become active.

He was not pleased. The last carnivore who showed up annoyed him greatly, with his false sense of serenity and calm.

Seeing the fake baby walk in with the frog on their head, he smirked and descended on them with his sticks.

Only to stop cold when he saw their eyes. It was like a kaleidoscope of color, with orange, indigo and green the predominant colors.

And in their hand was a small yellow bird.

"Hibari! Hibari~!" it chirped cheerfully.

"Are you going to attack me and risk this little one, or are you going to behave so we can have a proper talk?" asked the infant.

Kyouya stared at the bird, who promptly flew to his head and settled down calmly.

"Is this some sort of spell or illusion?"

The fake infant rolled their eyes.

"I'm an information broker. You really think I wouldn't notice that you left the bird toys alone and destroyed the rest?" they deadpanned. "If you behave I might send more interesting things your way."

"I am a carnivore. I have no need of herbivore things," said Kyouya scowling. For a seven year old he was quite precocious.

Mammon said nothing, though she was slowly starting to gain an idea of why Jasmine was having so much trouble with her son.

Kyouya took entirely too much after her, except he didn't have the same "conditioning" she had to hide her real self. That and he was apparently obsessed over the animal kingdom.

"Do you know what a carnivore's purpose is, grandson?" asked Mammon, settling down.

"To devour the herbivores," said Kyouya.

"That's a small part of it. The purpose of a predator is to remind the sheep that the world isn't kind. That they need to keep their wits sharp to avoid being eaten," said Mammon.

Kyouya blinked, and stared at her for a moment.

Mammon's smile was anything but kind.

"I'm not going to tell you to quit 'biting' people to death. The sheep that herd together and attack any who dare to rise above them need the reminder that crowding is only effective if the predator actually gives a damn about their opinion. Instead I want you to think of _restraint_. Even a wolf needs a pack to be truly effective," said Mammon flatly.

Kyouya blinked...before a slow smile appeared on his face. It seemed unlike the small carnivore with the red pacifier, this omnivore knew how things worked.

"Here's the deal. I want you to at least tone down the predator behavior around your parents and those who have truly earned your respect. In exchange I can arrange small outings around real carnivores and give you proper training so that the herbivores know their place in the food chain and remember you stand above them."

Kyouya was definitely warming up to her now, she could feel it. Poor Jasmine might have gotten her mother's looks and her father's personality, but it seemed that the boys in the family got all their attitude from Mammon.

Jasmine was particularly eager to hear the verdict.

"Your son apparently got his personality from me, with certain traits emphasized. I'll do what I can to get him to tone down the predator behavior around you and your husband, but for now try bribing him with birds and small animals."

"Birds?" repeated Jasmine.

Mammon pointed behind her, and there sitting in the room with an unusual expression on his face was Kyouya with a tiny little bird chirping his surname cheerfully and using him as a perch.

"He likes small animals, though I'd stick to birds until you can rule out which ones he likes best. If nothing else I can introduce him to the Varia and get him prepared for life as the Cloud Officer once he's old enough. We could use someone who's actually decent, since the last one was pathetic and a traitor."

Xanxus would probably love the kid and Belphegor would almost certainly bond with him at some point.

"Thank you mother," said Jasmine in relief.

"I'm going to find something to calm down the others, since I didn't fill out a temporary vacation request before I came."

Jasmine nodded, and went to try and interact with her son for a bit.

Mammon was more dangerous than anything else in this city.

It was as she was wandering that she felt a familiar, and very unwelcome presence. What in the hell was Timoteo Vongola doing here?

Using her Mist, she floated over to the home where Iemitsu was arguing with the old bastard over his son. A boy at least a few years younger than her grandson.

Listening in, she nearly snarled when she heard what Iemitsu was demanding the old man do to his son. What complete and utter idiot thought sealing an _active_ Sky flame that young was a smart move? There was no excuse for it!

Sensing the old bastard agreeing to it, with not enough reluctance considering the subject, Mammon acted. No way was she allowing that old bastard or the idiot to ruin the life of an innocent child.

They never suspected a thing, and Mammon carefully lead the child to a nearby park to have a little chat.

"Hello little one. I am Mammon. What's your name?"

"Tsuna. Who were those people?" asked the child innocently.

"The person that tried to touch your head was a bad man. He wanted to take something very special away from you because the other man is a fool who does not consider the consequences of his actions."

"What's consequence?"

"Say someone hit you with a rock. The 'consequence' of that act is pain. In short it is the result of an action," explained Mammon gently.

Tsuna's eyes widened. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Papa was trying to hurt me?" he said, eyes already watering with tears.

"Your papa is not a very kind man. He's never at home is he, and it hurts your mama," said Mammon. Tsuna nodded. "The old man he brought is someone who claims he cares about family, but does the opposite. I've argued against him about it before, but he does not listen. Adults rarely do."

"I don't want the bad man to hurt me," said Tsuna, eyes watering in fear. Mammon gently patted him on the head... his hair was ridiculously fluffy.

"I don't like him very much either, and the fact he wanted to hurt you made me very unhappy. Which is why we're going to play a little prank on them both, so they don't realize I was here."

Tsuna perked up at that.

"Tell me little one, what do you know of magic?"

Seeing the child perk up, Mammon smirked. All children loved magic, and seeing the real thing was an instant way of earning their trust. The fact she hated lies and gave the straight truth didn't hurt either.

Tsuna would return home with a 'connection' to the nice person who saved him from the bad man and the person who called himself his papa, an actual number to call in the event he needed help or wanted someone to talk to, and a spell to keep him safe.

In this case it was Mammon placing a fidelius on the fact Tsuna was an Active Sky. He would still attract Guardians and harmonize with them, but Iemitsu's idiotic brain wouldn't make the connection twice. It was a much kinder way of hiding the child from the mafia compared to what the idiot had planned.

* * *

 _In the Varia..._

"HE TRIED TO DO WHAT?!"

"Indoor voice, idiot," said Mammon flatly. She sipped her oolong tea. "And Iemitsu almost succeeded in sealing his son's Sky flames. If I hadn't been passing by and noticed that fool Timoteo's flames in the area, he would have been successful."

Frederico and Xanxus were both pissed.

"His son isn't even seven yet, is he?" asked Frederico.

"He's five, from what I could tell and possibly strong enough to even snare Kyouya-kun if enough time is given. I made sure to leave one of my dream links behind so I can train him how to handle his active flames while placing a spell that makes it impossible for anyone specifically trying to track him down through his Flames on him. Once he starts collecting Guardians I'll do the same to them, just to be sure."

"The mothering Mist strikes again. Seriously though, why the hell did the old man agree to seal a child? A _Sky_ flame at that?" said Frederico in disgust.

Mammon scoffed.

"He's almost as bad as my old headmaster. He's gotten so used to power that he can't see the damage he's causing, and he's become so numb to the fact he's a Don that he's forgotten what consequences are. Once that boy gets old enough and skilled enough, we'll have to make sure he doesn't accidentally fall into the same trap."

"What do you mean?" asked Frederico.

"You are 'dead', as far as anyone needs to know. Massimo is the 'heir', and Xanxus is out because he's adopted anyway. There's no way that brat will successfully take the position of Decimo, so we should prepare the Primo's descendant instead. He's young enough that we can train him and open enough that he might actually make a decent boss. And with the Varia, that means he'll have someone to keep him on his toes because I don't see Xanxus following orders that well," said Mammon.

Xanxus glared, but kept his silence. Acting as the 'counterbalance' for a kid didn't sound too bad, considering.

"I'll agree to it so long as we raise him as Quality, not trash like his father," said Xanxus.

"Of course, what made you think I would do otherwise?"

* * *

 _In Namimori..._

Kyouya stared at the small animal who felt like his Obaa-sama. This little one was like a tiny tiger cub, being protected by an even bigger mama tiger.

So he was important enough that his Obaa-sama shielded him personally. And Hibird, the little ball of feathers Obaa-sama gave him, seemed to adore him.

Sadly, so did the bullies.

Kyouya looked at the practice weapons the small annoying carnivore called Fon gave him to play with. Then he looked at the bullies who were crowding the small tiger.

A slow, wicked grin came upon his face.

 _Kyouya, sometimes the purpose of the carnivore is to protect a weaker omnivore until it's big enough to protect itself. When you find someone who doesn't make you feel crowded that you want to protect, I want you to give it your all. After all, even the strongest carnivore needs a friend._

"For the crime of crowding the small cub, I will bite you to death," declared Kyouya.

Tsuna Sawada watched in amazement as the slightly older boy beat up an entire group of bullies much bigger than him. All while a tiny bird chirped happily around him, cheering him on to more violence.

He almost flinched when the dark boy held out his hand, but one look in his eyes told him everything he needed to know. This boy wouldn't "bite" him like he did those bullies.

"Wao. Are you alright, little cub?"

Tsuna tilted his head.

"Little cub?"

"You feel like a tiger cub that's still learning to roar. One that Obaa-sama apparently took a liking to."

Tsuna blinked. Then he remembered the odd baby that protected him that day when the bad man and the parasite came.

"You mean Mammon-san?"

"Obaa-sama," corrected the other boy.

The infant looked way too young for someone their age to call her "Grandma" with such respect, but then again she said magic was weird. Seeing a tree turn into a bunny, he could easily believe that she could turn into a child.

"I'm Tsuna."

"Kyouya. If you dare try to crowd me with weaker herbivores I will bite you to death."

After a week of being around Kyouya, he quickly learned "weak herbivores" translated into almost everyone in school. Though considering the majority of them also had a habit of picking on him for absolutely no reason, Tsuna wasn't entirely inclined to be around them much either.

Kyouya didn't talk much, but at least he was honest about his feelings. If he didn't like something, he made it known in spades.

Tsuna could appreciate that sort of frank honesty, and it didn't take long for him to realize Kyouya got it from his grandmother.


	15. Chapter 15

Viper was half asleep when she felt the connection with Daniel again. She latched onto it immediately, sensing something was terribly wrong.

And she was right.

She recognized the train station anywhere and scowled.

"Mu. Someone is going to pay dearly for this," she said.

The boy turned and glared at her. Something had happened to him, because last she checked he had two indigo colored eyes and his father's metamorph ability, not one indigo eye and a blood red one with an odd kanji almost written on it.

" _Who are you?"_ he demanded.

There was a jaded look she knew all too well... the child had seen hell and barely survived.

"I would say consider me your guardian angel, except I can tell from the look in your eyes you don't believe in god, much less angels," she deadpanned. Her voice was flat and blunt. "Someone went to a lot of trouble hiding the connection I placed on you when you were born so that we couldn't find you."

Seeing the trident appear in his hands, Mammon said nothing.

"I am called Viper, the Mist Arcobaleno. And I am your grandmother."

The boy tensed.

" _I have no family. If I did, then they sold me out."_

"Your idiot _mother_ sold you out. We've been looking for you since that imbecile 'lost' you. If it's any consolation she's not likely to be doing much of anything after I got through with that bitch. Where are you?"

" _Kufufufu...in a lab. They want to perfect the Possession bullet."_

Viper's blood ran cold.

"And the writing in your eye?" she inquired, fury clear in her voice.

" _I have been to hell six times and remembered my past lives. Soon I will break free and make them all pay."_

Hearing the sheer vindictive sound of his voice, Viper could tell that his Black heritage ran true at least.

She could feel the boy waking up and grabbed his arm.

He came to in a cell with two other boys, a feral looking Sun and a silent Rain. It was very obvious both were very loyal to Daniel.

" _Ghost!"_ said the Sun, staring right at her.

" _Kufufufu... how are you here?"_ he asked, looking at her exhausted.

Viper was beyond pissed now.

"Which familigia has you three hostage?" she demanded, furious.

The trio stared at her, before the silent one spoke.

" _Esterneo."_

Viper found herself shaken awake by Xanxus.

He had felt her fury all the way through the mansion.

"What happened?"

"I found Daniel. The Esterneo have him..."

Xanxus growled.

"We'll retrieve him. No way are we leaving one of ours in their hands," said Xanxus flatly.

Xanxus had long come to terms about how he 'felt' towards Mammon/Viper. She was like a second mother to him, and her family was his family. The fact that her clan had accepted him as one of their own before they even met him had only cemented that fact.

So the idea of leaving her grandson at the hands of some familigia that had little to no morals was not an option.

However by the time they found the base, it was already in shambles and the trio had disappeared. Viper was _pissed._

She sent every feeler she had out until she hit something that might lead them to Daniel and the others.

A decent-sized familigia had recently taken in a trio of children...all Flame Active and one of them was a very powerful Mist.

They were on the first plane out the second she got a location.

* * *

Lancia was confused. He had seen Varia Elite come to the home, including the Mist Arcobaleno...and he had no idea why they were there. Much less publicly.

If there was a hit, then they would have been far more discreet.

Seeing the Mist Arcobaleno floating and demanding to see the three children they recently took in made several alarms go through his head. However, his boss made it clear that saying no was certainly not an option.

Mammon of the Varia wanted something from them, and they would not take lightly to being denied. There had even been some not-so-subtle threats of bringing the other Arcobaleno down on them if they tried to deny their request.

Lancia took them to the room...and stayed within view. Something was up and he wanted to know _what_.

Mammon walked up to the Mist first. Except it was the feral kid who said something that had Lancia blink.

"Ah! It's the ghost! Except they're tiny..."

Mammon's lips quirked up in amusement.

"I'm no ghost. What you saw was a Mist projection using _him_ as an anchor. If I hadn't been woken up I would have stayed a little longer to explain things."

Mukuro did his creepy laugh.

"You really expect me to believe you're my grandmother, looking like that?"

"Adopted grandmother," she allowed. "Though we are related by blood. Your father was most displeased learning his wife had been stupid enough to lose you."

The implied fact that the 'wife' had been tortured was left out. Lancia got the feeling that Mammon had not been kind hearing her 'grandson' had been lost.

She had already sent for Theo, to prove he was in fact the boy's father.

"Kufufufu... how do I know you're not lying?"

Mammon's smirk was vicious.

"I can prove it. You inherited your father and biological grandmother's gift of being able to shift your features at will. Your grandmother had a particular penchant for having pink hair, for instance, though she was rather clumsy."

Mukuro paused.

Only Ken and Chikusa knew he could shift his features, since he refused to give the adults _more_ reason to experiment on him.

"Your grandfather, on the other hand, was a werewolf. Though your father didn't inherit his curse, he did have heightened senses and an affinity for large predators. Those were boosted on full moons," continued Mammon.

Mukuro stared at her in shock.

The entire reason Ken had joined forces with him in the first place, despite being almost entirely feral when they originally met was because he claimed he "sensed a great wolf" in him. The more they experimented on him, the more Ken could tell that Mukuro was an "alpha wolf" and thus latched on to him to the point that Mukuro was literally the only thing keeping him sane.

No one save for the trio knew of that tidbit.

"If it helps, I called your father the second we located the labs so that we could prove you are his son. He will be here by morning. If you're patient, we can settle this within a day or two and you'll finally be home. You and your friends."

"Kufufufu... why do you want us so badly? I am a monster," said Mukuro uneasy.

Mammon's eyes stared at him. It was like looking into the Abyss...except for once he wasn't afraid of it looking back.

"You're _family_. Besides, you're a Black... we have different standards than most clans do when it comes to killing."

So long as he didn't fall prey to the same insanity of Bellatrix, it was highly unlikely anyone would actually bat an eye at his behavior. With inbreeding came some rather...interesting... quirks that had a bad habit of being shared through generations.

* * *

 _Three days later..._

It was strange, finding his family had been looking for him all this time. At least they weren't trying to separate him from his two minions.

Ken had practically attached himself to "Theo", as he sensed an older Alpha wolf in him.

"Kufufufu... where are we going?" asked Mukuro.

After the hell they had gone through from the mafia, he wasn't exactly inclined to be stuck in another one. Even if it had taken a DNA test for the familigia who had "rescued" them after they escaped from the labs to actually _release_ the trio into Mammon's custody.

"Considering the way the mafia seems to believe it has a claim on all Active Flames and is heavily entrenched in Italy, we're heading someplace where I can train you in peace. Besides, you'll be meeting your cousin there...eventually."

"Cousin?"

Theo looked sheepish.

"With how intermarried our clan is in England, you have several distant cousins. Though mother doesn't really acknowledge any relation, considering she's disgusted in general with the country. However you do have an aunt and two uncles, though one is adopted. Your aunt is helping us hide from the idiot mafioso who will try to use your gifts for their own selfish gain. If need be you can just disappear into the enclaves like I did."

"Kufufufu... How can you be fine with her being an assassin?"

Theo blinked at the odd question.

"Daniel... or do you prefer Mukuro?"

"Mukuro," he said bluntly. It was too weird going by his birth name after all he went through. Though considering his grandmother, it was clear his 'father' understood.

"Very well. You'll find that the Black clan has different standards when it comes to the darker side of things. Shapeshifting isn't the only thing that runs in the family. We also dabble in old blood rituals... the kind you might find in the darker side of druid rites. Not to mention the fact that we're a Neutral Dark family. We're not going to kick you out just because you're a bit bloodthirsty compared to most."

Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin might have been a strictly Light witch because of her father, but Theo was firmly a Neutral Grey wizard. He would use dark magic if it meant protecting the people he cared about and damn what the Ministry had to say about the matter. Something his grandmother approved of wholeheartedly.

"What would get him kicked out?" asked Chikusa. He was a silent shadow, not that Mukuro's father seemed to mind.

Theo made a face.

"There was one woman in our recent family history that should have been kicked out, but wasn't due to the circumstances. She openly killed the previous head of the Black clan in front of the heir and was certifiably insane to the point she was more akin to a rabid dog. She tortured and murdered entire families simply because she could," said Theo quietly. "She also rendered two people permanently catatonic from torture, which had her arrested and sent to prison instead of the hanging she deserved."

So from the sound of it, while the "Blacks" could accept a little bit of murder to people who clearly deserved it, they wouldn't accept a serial killer who went after anyone and everyone just because they enjoyed it.

"Kufufufu... it's good to know that you at least have standards," said Mukuro finally, relaxing.

"Just wait until your great-grandmother starts teaching you. She knows a lot of things that might have your interest, though mother said she would be handling your training as a Mist. If you're going to be a creepy little bastard, then you're going to be creepy and able to take on anyone stupid to mess with you and your little pack here," said Theo flatly.

Considering what little interaction with Mammon he had, Mukuro could find himself liking his 'grandmother'. She wasn't like the other adults... he knew she understood him better than the familigia who had taken them in had.

* * *

Mukuro expected a lot of things. The open welcome and immediate acceptance was not one of them.

A welcome that included Ken and Chikusa, like it was only natural they would be part of the family since they were Mukuro's.

The two younger boys were floundering a bit at the attention. They never had family before, and all the knew was the hell that had been the labs.

Here though... here they had people who accepted them as they were and didn't make any demands. Who treated them as though they belonged without hesitation.

It was overwhelming.

"Enjoying the party?" asked Mammon kindly. She had a territory up where they could hide for a bit and adjust to the new situation.

"It's...different," said Mukuro evenly.

"You see the man over there with feathers in his hair and red eyes? Talk to him... he had a similar reaction when he realized they had practically adopted him as their new younger brother simply because I treated him like a son."

Mukuro looked at the Varia Sky. He looked like a stranger in this family gathering, yet they treated him like he was family anyway.

"Family doesn't end with just blood," said Mammon simply. "We also understand the importance of giving newcomers space... the bonds that were almost broken by that chit's stupidity can heal in their own time."

She patted him on the head, leaving him to think.

Mukuro observed his minions... No. They had long since passed being his "minions" at this point. They were more like his brothers.

Ken looked honestly happy, and everyone took his rough nature in stride. Chikusa seemed to ghost around the party, but there was a slight smile on his face that Mukuro had never seen before now.

It was...nice.

And then he saw him. A small fluffball who was sitting out of the way eating cake looking slightly confused on why he was invited.

Mukuro made his way over to the kid without knowing why.

Mammon watched the way Mukuro moved, and smiled. She knew inviting Tsuna was a good idea.

Kyouya had taken the "little tiger" under his wings and was well on the way to harmonizing with the boy, even if he was still Latent. Tsuna had taken to calling her "Grandmother", which had made it easier to include him in this particular event.

From the looks of it, Tsuna's Sky was gently drawing Mukuro in. Having a proper harmony bond would help settle Mukuro's Mist Flames, just like bonding with her had settled Theo's.

Mammon was openly smiling at the end of it... her family was safe again, and her protective instincts were no longer on the verge of snapping at everyone because she had Mukuro back in their fold. She could care less about the addition of a Sun and Rain. She would never leave them without their Alpha, not when it was clear the two had absolute loyalty to Mukuro.

That sort of loyalty should be rewarded, not pushed aside.


	16. Chapter 16

Mukuro could easily say he _loved_ his family. They had taken his dark nature in stride...hell, his great grandmother Andromeda downright _encouraged_ him to be even more lethal and terrifying!

While his distaste for the mafia would likely never go away after what happened to him, he could at least direct it towards the people who deserved it.

Being given examples of his great-aunt's depravity had been enough of a warning of what overindulging would lead to, if nothing else.

Finding out _exactly_ what their response to "losing" him had been was the real clincher. It was rather nice to know they had been so angry over the way his "mother" had sold him deliberately to the Esterneo scientists that they had made her life an never ending torment that would take _years_ before she was given the sweet release of death (and even that wouldn't be painless and likely take _days_ before she died) made him oddly happy.

Considering the hell he went through in those labs, it was only fitting the woman who was responsible for it suffered as much as he had.

Even if the dream lessons Viper gave him through the connection she fixed were odd, they were worth it.

He was being given a _choice_ , which was something they didn't have previously, about whether he joined the mafia or not.

If he wanted his freedom from such rules, then he could simply hide with his father in the magical enclaves.

Though to be honest, he suspected he would end up in the underworld anyway. His habits were simply too dark to be satisfied by the magical enclaves, which were far too outdated for his liking.

Ken and Chikusa were clearly loving the new situation as well. Not once had the adults even looked like they were considering separating the trio...instead they went out of their way to include the other two as if it were only natural to do so.

The thing Mukuro loved the most though? His regular fights with his cousin Kyouya, who seemed to take personal offense to him.

At least he could honestly claim his family wasn't boring. And rather than discourage the fighting, Mammon had arranged for them to learn how to fight more _effectively_.

Apparently his grandmother was of the firm belief that if you were going to be a predator, then you were damn well going to be a good one that showed the sheep who was boss. She could care less if the average person found him rather terrifying. So long as he protected his own, then it was their problem.

And right now Mukuro's "pack" as his father had eloquently put it, was still growing. It even included the "little cub" known as Tsuna, oddly enough. He was a harmless fluffball...but there was something about him that seemed to draw people in. He took Mukuro's creepy nature in stride, once he realized that the older boy was very similar to Kyouya when it came to being a possessive bastard.

The two of them had barely come to the agreement to 'share' Tsuna. Mostly because Mukuro didn't really mind "crowding" or being dragged around by the little cub with the others into things like movies or playing video games. Kyouya was more interested in establishing his territory than doing anything that "herbivores" enjoyed.

It was during one of their "little outings" with Tsuna that a complicated situation arose.

Namely they were out enjoying the day when Ken caught the scent of someone who smelled an awful like Mukuro and Theo.

The group followed the feral child straight to a little girl who could have passed for Mukuro's sister in looks.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Tsuna.

The girl almost jumped, realizing there were others there. She was so timid and afraid it was obvious something was wrong.

"W-w-who are you?" she asked scared.

"I'm Tsuna. This is Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa. Why are you crying?"

Before the little girl could respond, there was an angry shout past the bushes. They were unseen from the main path, but the sound of the voice had the girl jump in fear.

"Nagi! You useless brat, where are you?" shouted a woman. She looked somewhat drunk and not very nice.

Mukuro disliked her immensely. And considering the sheer level of fear coming from the girl, there was no way in hell he was letting the woman find her. Throwing up a Mist barrier was child's play.

The woman passed, not even seeing the four boys and the girl who was trembling with fear the second she came so close.

Tsuna frowned at the woman.

"I don't think I like her."

"I'm calling father," said Mukuro flatly. And it had taken a real battle for him to start calling the man that.

Theo was there in less than five minutes. He had clearly apparated straight to the park and followed Mukuro's magical signature to them.

The second he saw the little girl he cursed quietly.

She looked far too much like his birth mother to be a coincidence. And he could distinctly remember the woman he picked up during a drunken night at a bar shortly after Mukuro first disappeared while he was still trying to get information on his whereabouts.

Clearly the protection he used failed.

"Tsuna, can you and the others bring her to the house? We're going to need proof before we can act," said Theo gently. Mammon was going to be so annoyed with him for this.

Tsuna nodded and gently held out his hand. He had never been more glad for "Sky Attraction" as Mammon called it, in his life.

* * *

 _One week later..._

Nagi was still reeling from everything that happened.

She had only gone to the park to hide from her mother's abusive boyfriend...and she ended up finding her half-brother and birth father instead.

Her mother had always claimed her father wanted nothing to do with them...after all, he had left before she was born.

The second her father found out she existed, he hadn't hesitated to move heaven and earth to gain custody of her. Not that he had to try hard... her mother hated her for some reason and was probably glad she no longer had to deal with her "worthless daughter".

"Mu. So this is the little one you found by accident?"

Nagi stared at the toddler. There was something about them that made her relax.

"I swear to the gods I am never sleeping with another woman again unless you vet them first. Once was bad luck, twice is a bloody pattern," groaned her father.

"Well at least you reclaimed her before more damage was done. Hello little one... my name is Viper. I'm your grandmother."

"But you're so small," said Nagi without thinking, before clamming up with horror.

Viper frowned. There was a subtle shift in the room, and where her rather plain bedroom had been there was now a gentle meadow with lots of flowers and a woman with kind eyes.

Nagi stared in awe. It felt so nice here.

"You'll find that magic is rather unpredictable at times," she said gently. "This might be temporary, but it's as real as you want it to be."

Nagi plucked a flower. It felt real...and the smell was the same as it should be.

She felt a gentle touch on her cheek and flinched.

"I can see why you called me," said Viper. She made sure to move slowly enough that Nagi saw what she was doing so as not to startle her too much. The hug was so warm and kind that she leaned into it without hesitation. "It's alright little one. You're safe and no one will harm you while I'm around."

Viper was gently stroking her hair the way Nagi wished her mother would have. There was something in the woman's voice that said she understood exactly what Nagi had gone through. The gentle humming lulled the girl into a light sleep.

For the first time in her life she felt wanted and safe.

Seeing the little one sleeping so peacefully, Viper turned to her son.

"I take it the woman has been dealt with?"

Theo rolled his eyes.

"Between my lawyers and the subtle curses I left on that woman, she's not going to get away with abusing her like that. And the less said about what I did to that pathetic boyfriend of hers, the better."

Those two would see hell before they died, Theo had made damn sure of that.

Theo sighed.

"It feels like my happy childhood was skipped over in favor of yours when it comes to my children."

Viper said nothing, because he had a point. Once was coincidence, but both of his children suffering unhappy childhoods rather painfully reminiscent of her own? Clearly Potter Luck was attacking his children with a cruel vengeance.

It was a good thing she found a way to keep connected with her family, because she could already see Nagi (they really needed to change her name to something more appropriate) would need a lot more than simple training like her brother was getting before she could be whole again.

At least they had gotten to her early, before she was fully broken.

* * *

 _A short time later..._

Nagi was quickly renamed Lyra Iris Lupin-Black on the magical records, but she went by Chrome Dokuro in public. Thanks to a semi-illegal blood ritual, the genes she got from her mother were replaced with her grandmother's bloodline, thus making her a "Potter" through Jasmine. She saw the older woman as more of a big sister figure anyway.

She found her new family much better than her old one. Jasmine was so kind to her, and while Kyouya was a little scary, they shared a love of birds so it was okay.

Chrome loved her baby snow owl that she named Hedwig in honor of the loyal owl that her grandmother had owned as a girl.

Her big brother was scary, but he was also very protective of his sister. And his friends were really nice, once they realized she wasn't trying to take him away from them.

She loved having friends and a real family. It made it easier to forget the bad times.

Even if she had yet to figure out how to shift her features like her brother and father could. There was a high chance she would inherit the gift as well. She definitely had magic though.

* * *

Mammon was exhausted. Finding Daniel, and then stumbling across Chrome shortly after had worn her out.

On top of that, there were some less than savory reports about Massimo that had her honestly worried about Tsuna's future.

If not for her intervention the boy would have been sealed and screwed up for the majority of his childhood at the least.

Now he was slowly gathering Guardians and learning how to control his Flames _safely._ Tsuna had such pure, strong Flames that his potential would have been utterly wasted if Iemitsu had his way, the prick.

Federico and Xanxus made training more like a game, and the boy was growing at a fast rate that it would be a bit harder to hide him from the Vongola a second time.

Xanxus walked in and saw Mammon lying down on one of the many bean bags she had scattered around the room. With how small she was, they were more like beds.

He picked her up and plopped right back down, allowing her Flames to gently coil around his more violent ones. She relaxed in his lap.

"It's been a rough year," commented Xanxus.

Finding not just Daniel, but also his half sister in less than six months had clearly taken it's toil on the Mist. This was on top of the 'dream training' she gave Mukuro, Chrome, Tsuna and Kyouya at night, acting as the unofficial therapist for the Varia _and_ keeping the books straight as well as the occasional assassination with Belphegor.

Viper was being stretched thin and needed a break.

Viper said nothing, mostly because she had a migraine.

"You know you could take a month-long vacation. You definitely deserve it," commented Xanxus.

They could survive a month without her.

"I'm highly tempted to do just that, if only to train the kids properly without having to communicate over long distance..."

"More like you want to spend that time with Fon," said Xanxus snorting.

She hadn't seen him in months and it _hurt_. Though he understood why that was, spending a month with him would go a long way to keeping their marriage strong.

"I really need a proper vacation..." groaned Viper.

"Then take one," said Xanxus without much sympathy.

"You are such a brat."

Xanxus grinned at her. She loved him, bratty behavior and all.

"Screw it, I'm filing out the forms tomorrow," said Viper.


	17. Chapter 17

**No, it is not dead...I simply forgot which chapters I already had posted. There's even a SEQUEL already in the works, though this one is not completed.**

 **Also, just a reminder that I do have a go fund me page. Just add _tsukis-vet-visit_ after the .com part. It's alright if you can't donate today...sharing helps as well!**

* * *

Viper was practically purring like a lazy cat on the couch, with Fon using his knowledge of pressure points to deal with the ever present migraine she had for the past week.

He had been equally quick to take a vacation in Namimori the _second_ she mentioned that she had started to file the forms for a month-long break and planned to take that time to visit the kids properly.

Of course he had brought his own little addition to the family, since she had brought _four_ of them in less than six months.

I-Pin had been in awe of her Master's wife the second she met her, and it hadn't taken long for Viper's mothering side to kick in. she found the fact I-Pin clearly had a crush on Fon adorable.

"Gods, we needed this. It's been far too long since we saw each other for more than a few days at a time," said Viper.

Fon hummed in agreement, happy to have his wife's head in his lap again.

Not for the first time he hated the curse they were under, if only because of the age they were stuck at. At least Viper had found a way to work around it, but it wasn't the same as the real thing.

Seeing Viper turn into a puddle of goo from the massage was always fun to watch though.

"Looks like you're enjoying your time off," said Jasmine with a wink.

Fon chuckled, and Viper stayed prone in his lap.

"How are the children?"

"Finally taking a nap. I think a Rain's been circling around Tsuna through Ken though."

Ken had somehow found a Rain Latent on his baseball team, and before long the kid had started picking up on Tsuna's Sky aura enough to start visiting more often. It was only a matter of time before Tsuna had a Rain to add to his Guardians.

The clan had already inspected the boy's potential, and his lineage was _very_ impressive. His father was a named hit man who retired to live with his family and now ran a sushi shop (one that Belphegor happened to frequent rather regularly whenever he was in town), and the boy was a direct descendant of the Vongola Primo's Rain Guardian Asari.

In fact the resemblance between the boy (Yamamoto Takeshi) and Asari was downright uncanny.

Then again, Mukuro and Kyouya resembled the Primo's own Guardians (same Flame type, ironically) in a way that was almost unreal.

Once was a coincidence, twice was odd, three times and it was becoming a very disturbing pattern. At this point Federico was starting to wonder if Tsuna was the Primo's reincarnation and was trying to reclaim his original Guardians...or at least their descendants.

With magic, weirder things _have_ happened.

If that was the case, then it meant that Tsuna would end up in the Vongola's sights sooner rather than later.

But for today, Fon and Viper were enjoying their time alone together.

Mammon was frowning. After her long overdue vacation, in which Tsuna attracted a proper Rain for his Guardians, Federico had brought up the oddity of him finding children who were all direct descendants of the Primo's own Guardians. Children who were as close to _dead ringers_ for said men in appearance as you could possibly get.

Which had brought up the question on whether Tsuna might be a reincarnation. And if so, perhaps they should find the other reincarnations and train them up now rather than do a rush job later.

To that end, Xanxus and Federico had supplied the pictures of the two "missing" Guardians, since Ken had accidentally found another boy with the same Flame and appearance as the Primo's Sun. If he tested positive as a descendant as well, then there was no way this was all a coincidence.

Which meant she might as well find out if there was a Lightning and a Storm who resembled the Primo's Guardians out there.

Verde's facial recognition (and a rather judicious use of hacking any camera linked to the web) got hits within a few days.

One "Gokudera Hayato", heir to a minor familigia in the alliance and Storm Latent, and a "Romeo" who was a freelancer with an Active but not Useful Lightning flame.

Considering Romeo was often in the same vicinity as Hayato's older sister, a girl who had displayed worrying obsessive tendencies very little regard for the damage she caused others with her Poison Cooking, it was probably best to collect Romeo first.

After all, Viper had multiple reports of Bianchi poisoning Hayato so he could "play" piano. The recordings of that were atrocious and made her opinion of the boy's father and sister very low indeed.

Viper reached for her phone and called Federico. He could extract Romeo and hopefully leave the stalker brat behind.

As for Hayato, introducing him now would be a mistake. He was too hot headed and didn't think things through. While he might be loyal (especially since he made it clear he wanted to be the right hand man of a don as his future goal), right now he was simply too rough and inexperienced to introduce him to Tsuna.

Viper had a slightly evil smirk. She was sure Colonello would love to whip the hot headed child into the right shape for a right hand man and hopefully knock his behavior down a few pegs. And Syaoran could train him once his Flames went Active... or Xanxus. Belphegor was too incompatible to train _anyone._ Fon was currently busy with I-Pin after all.

Plan made, she began making calls.

* * *

Federico waited for Romeo to be relatively alone. Bianchi was out on a hit, which made now the perfect time to track the Lightning down.

"Are you Romeo?" he asked.

The freelancer blinked.

"I am."

"I represent a third party that has taken an interest with you," said Federico.

"A third party?"

"One loosely affiliated with the Vongola alliance. If you agree you'll be well compensated and given a proper apartment as well as short term missions. Though you will be heavily encouraged to live in a civilian heavy city with other Flame Actives in Japan."

Romeo blinked.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you likely won't hear from us more than one more time. However I've been told to politely encourage you with a minor warning about the girl you've been seen with repeatedly. The Poison Scorpion?"

Romeo paused.

"What about her?"

Federico brought out a rather alarming list of her past boyfriends, as well as the hospital reports from her brother having his stomach pumped repeatedly by Trident Shamal.

Romeo looked over the list and his eye widened in disbelief. He knew some of the names, but had assumed that they had gotten careless or something.

"Bianchi has been noted to be somewhat unstable and has already begun displaying some alarming obsessive stalking tendencies to whoever has her interest. She also has very little regard for others and has been known to use her poison cooking on innocent bystanders simply because she thought they were in her way. To say nothing of the outright torture and abuse she has put her own brother through."

"Why hasn't she been arrested by the Vindice yet?" said Romeo pale. He had noticed there was something...off...about the girl, but he had no idea it was _this_ bad.

"According to Viper, who came up with the list and did all the research, the main reason the Vindice haven't gotten involved is because Bianchi has never openly attacked civilians...yet. However she considers other mafioso to be fair game."

"Viper as in the miserly information broker?" said Romeo. He had heard of them. Their information was as close to accurate as you could have, even if it was expensive as hell to get it.

Federico nodded.

"Why me? I barely rate on the underworld totem pole as a freelancer."

"To be honest, there's a very high likelihood you might be a direct descendant of the Vongola Primo's Lightning Guardian. Which means your untapped potential was interesting enough to contact you directly. Enough that you could fill the position of Lightning Guardian for a rather young Sky who has almost completed their set."

"Seriously?" said Romeo in disbelief.

"There are multiple pictures of the Primo's Lightning. It's how they found you in the first place," said Federico shrugging.

"Can I have some time to think about this?"

"You can have a week. If you make up your mind before then, call this number."

Federico handed over his phone number. He was acting as middle man here, mostly because it would be suspicious if Mammon did this directly.

She was already digging into Romeo's bloodline to confirm he was in fact a descendant like they suspected. Hayato had come up as a direct match to G, the Vongola Storm.

A few days later, when Bianchi returned, Romeo made a few discreet inquiries about the names on the list he was given. Hearing how blasé she was about their deaths and the light comments about eating something that "didn't agree with them" after they broke up with her had alarmed him enough to take the warning he was given seriously.

The next day he called the number and agreed to move to Japan for the near future, if only to avoid a similar fate.

So what if he was put through hell and trained until he dropped for several months after that? It was preferable to being dead by Bianchi's cooking simply because he dumped her!

* * *

Hayato hadn't questioned his good fortune, hearing he was a possible candidate for the Storm position of a Sky about his age. However because of his inexperience (which was a lot politer than telling him his temper was the main reason they weren't introducing him right away) he would be left to the 'tender' mercies of the Rain Arcobaleno as an apprentice until he was ready to meet his potential boss.

Best of all, Bianchi was outright _banned_ from the training grounds while he was working under Colonello as there was a very real possibility of her being a "disruptive influence" on his training.

He was even allowed to play with High Explosives...with heavy supervision from Colonello of course, but still! Being allowed to learn how to use his bombs more effectively and learn how to protect his future boss was like a dream come true!

Someone was actually going to give him a real chance to fulfill his dreams! A mystery third party who believed enough in him to pay for his training to awaken the full potential he had waiting.

* * *

Mammon wasn't the only one cursing. Xanxus and Federico were right behind her, for almost the same reason.

Massimo had done something stupid and ended up being killed in one of the most cliché ways for a mafioso. It had obviously been done by a newer familigia, because none of the properly established ones would have used such a ridiculous way of killing the fool.

Honestly, concrete shoes _and_ being thrown over a pier? Who still did that other than rank amateurs? It was insulting.

The fact remained that the only 'official' candidate left to take the Decimo position now was Tsunayoshi, who would soon turn fifteen. And to the best of the Vongola's knowledge, he had been "sealed" almost ten years ago.

Only time would tell if Nono was still as big a fool as ever. Considering Reborn had made a reputation for himself for turning previously overlooked candidates into proper dons, on top of his title as the World's Greatest Hit Man (and thus perfect bodyguard material on top of being a tutor), odds were Nono would call him first to train Tsuna into taking over the position.

Good thing they had prepared for such an eventuality. Especially when they discovered that there was a very _real_ possibility that the first Vongola generation had somehow been reincarnated. Which would only raise the odds of Tsuna eventually being tapped to take over the Family.

Less than two weeks later, Reborn called with the news.

" _I just got hired to 'train' Tsuna into becoming the next Decimo,"_ he said openly amused.

Mostly because he knew perfectly well that Tsuna just needed a few tweaks before he could take that position. Well, that and finish high school.

"I almost can't wait to see Timoteo's expression when he finds out we've averted his stupidity _and_ arranged for appropriate Guardians years ago."

" _When should I bring in Hayato?"_

"Give Tsuna a few days to adjust to the news. At this point it shouldn't shock him _too_ much finding out about the mafia or his future role. Personally I want to be there when we reveal he plans to make Federico the External Adviser."

Federico had _finally_ gained the last Guardian he needed for a complete set. Considering what a mess he had been before Xanxus and Mammon had saved his life, he wasn't going to complain about Tsuna taking over.

They needed someone who wasn't raised with the same stupidity of Timoteo or Iemitsu to lead them. Besides, being "brought back from the dead" was going to be hilarious.

Losing one heir is tragic. Losing three in less than a decade and attempting to freeze a fourth went beyond Stupid and just highlighted how badly Timoteo needed to step down if he couldn't even protect his own family.

" _I'll be sure to bring multiple cameras,"_ chuckled Reborn.

At least he knew Tsuna wasn't completely hopeless.


	18. Chapter 18

Tsuna took the news he was the "only" possible candidate for the title of Vongola well enough.

If by fainting you meant well enough, that is.

Once he was revived, Reborn explained the situation _properly_ to him.

Xanxus was adopted, and while he did have Vongola blood it was too thin for him to successfully claim the rings. Tsuna's favorite Uncle "Rico" was technically dead and for all intents and purposes planned to stay that way as a precaution.

If news got out that the second son of Vongola Nono were alive, it would send unimaginable ripples through the underworld and cause a lot of headaches to pop up.

The man fully planned to act as Tsuna's External Adviser, thus cutting Iemitsu permanently out of the equation. The man was a fool and useless besides, and it meant he wouldn't have to deal with nearly as many headaches as he would have trying to claim the Decimo title.

To be fair, they were righting a wrong that had happened centuries ago. The Secundo had only claimed the title because the Primo had no heirs and wisely wanted to avoid an internal civil war over the issue. The fact that there had been betrayal from the Primo's Mist (who acted as the Secundo's Mist as well) only complicated the issue further.

It had been Ricardo Vongola who had set the Family on the bloodstained path it was on now. It was high time Giotto's grandson set things right once and for all.

Tsuna knew about the Vongola history... Federico had been happy to explain it to the wide-eyed little one, on top of Flame training.

One would think the boy would worry about history repeating itself as it has so often.

Except Mukuro loved the "little tiger cub" enough to claim him as his "little brother", and the idea of betraying family who didn't deserve the knife to the back was repugnant to him.

Viper was many things, but instilling a sense of family in those who previously had none was her specialty.

Family above familigia was her creed, something Mukuro enthusiastically agreed with, as did most of the children. After all, it had been _Family_ that had found him in that pathetic familigia who thought they could turn three broken children into new members ready to kill for them. It was _Family_ that had kept on looking for him without a trace to go on for seven long years, and accepted the two he had taken with him as their own.

It was Family that had accepted _him_ for who he was and allowed him to create who he would be.

He even got a little sister out of the deal.

For the Black Clan, family was sacred...even if they were adopted into it like Xanxus and Tsuna. Or to a lesser extent like Federico and Belphegor.

After what Viper did for his family, Federico was more than willing to claim them as such, even if he only felt deserving of the "cousin" status.

And while Belphegor eagerly accepted Viper as family, he wasn't so quick to abandon his own bloodline in favor of hers. After all, if he became a Black then he would no longer be a true prince. Instead he claimed the 'protectorate/adopted son' position, something they were both fine with since it kept things simple while still explaining their relationship.

"So... does this mean you're staying here permanently?"

"Until either Timoteo pisses off Viper to the point she reveals his 'dead' son, or until you complete your training. You remember the plan in case we had to bring you up to mafia standards right?"

Tsuna nodded. Viper had _gently_ explained about the underworld without going into specifics, leaving out certain pieces of information Reborn would have to clarify for the boy.

"If I get 'tapped' as an heir, then after I'm made the next Don I fire the idiot and put my uncle in his place because he's trustworthy and actually knows what he's doing," said Tsuna. "I also leave the Ninth generation for grandma to deal with because acting directly isn't worth the potential trouble it could bring."

Viper's only connection to the Vongola was through Xanxus, and the second people found out he was actually adopted and that Timoteo wasn't the father, that connection would be so thin that any action she took against him would not link immediately back to her children.

It was well known that Skies either took to each other or they became rather...violent... if they didn't.

In Viper's case, she was firmly Discordant when it came to Timoteo and Iemitsu. It was unlikely the Vindice would actually care if she happened to hex the two of them until they could no longer see straight.

You do not piss off a Black, especially when it came to family.

"So do I still call you Uncle Reborn?" asked Tsuna hopefully.

"When we're alone or having a day off, you can keep calling me that. However when I'm acting as your tutor you'll call me Reborn-sensei," he explained patiently.

Tsuna had taken to Reborn's previous student Dino well enough, and had practically adopted him as his older brother, to the Italian's delight.

Finding out that he was now suffering from Reborn's tutelage would only make them closer.

It was the first time Hayato had met Tsuna, but thanks to his training he could at least be level-headed about it. That, and Reborn was under strict orders from Viper not to screw around and just introduce the two.

Romeo had long since bonded as Tsuna's Lightning and was Nana's _official_ bodyguard...after the Varia got through with him and put him through hell so he could learn how to use his Flame properly. He would have taken a teaching position except he wasn't that enthusiastic about grading papers.

Body guarding suited him fine, and it meant he had a steady source of income. With bonuses whenever he turned in assassins who thought to try something. Besides, Nana loved having an actual man around the house that was willing to fill in for where Iemitsu failed so spectacularly. He slept in a different room of course, but at least he was actually _there_ to step in.

She would forever be grateful for Viper, because she could see her son flourishing with her almost gentle guidance. She dreaded to think what would have happened if it had just been the two of them.

* * *

"Hayato, this is Tsuna. Tsuna, this is the Storm your Nonna recommended for you," said Reborn patiently. They were on the roof to reduce witnesses.

"Hi!" chirped the cheerful boy.

"Um, hi."

"Tsuna, be nice. It's not Hayato's fault he developed a Tsundere personality as a defense for how the mafia treated him," scolded Reborn with amusement.

Tsuna blinked at that information.

"A tsundere, really?" he had to ask with open amusement.

"What's a tsundere?" asked Hayato. He knew Japanese but he wasn't familiar with all of the slang just yet.

"Tsundere is someone who acts tough on the outside, but is actually really kind. One famous example likes to use people as target practice when embarrassed or blow them up, but is really smart and loyal to her family," said Tsuna, thinking of "Rin Tohsaka" from the _Fate_ series.

"Colonello had you pegged as a tsundere the second you started threatening people with bombs for little matters, while at the same time you showed the loyalty one should expect from a proper Storm," commented Reborn.

The only reason he knew the signs so well was because his girlfriend Lal Mirch was a Tsundere as well.

"So where are you staying?" asked Tsuna. If they were going to be friends, it helped to know where they were living.

"I'm still looking for cheap apartments," said Hayato.

"I have a bunk bed. The top one is rarely used, but I bet Mama won't care if you stayed with us until you found a place."

Even if he didn't find one, having him in the same house would make the bond between them a lot smoother.

Hayato looked surprised at the offer.

His tsun side was out in full force with his light blush. Tsuna grinned...he was going to have a lot of fun teasing the poor Storm until the boy realized what a big family he was about to be adopted into.

And knowing his Nonna, she wouldn't hesitate to do so once she had the measure of how loyal he would be to her adopted grandson.

Reborn saw the gleam in Tsuna's eyes and rolled his. Viper seemed determined to infect her grandchildren and adopted children with the "Marauding Genes"... and by that he meant turn them all into unrepentant pranksters from hell.

On the plus side, it meant getting his fix of absolute chaos very, very easy and a lot of fun to boot.

It was amazing what he could get from a large number of willing and inventive accomplices.

"Zio is thinking of mischief again," Tsuna chided.

Hayato blinked.

"You call _him_ uncle?"

Tsuna grinned.

"You have no idea what sort of family you've just been brought into. Odds are Nonna will adopt you in a heartbeat once you get used to being here."

Hayato's face darkened as he thought of his own family. He felt a light bop on the head from Tsuna.

"None of that. Family shouldn't make the thought of each other sad," scolded Tsuna. "And Nonna has taken in strays before, so you'll fit right in."

Reborn could tell he'd have to explain how the Black family worked to Hayato. The Storm looked positively confused.

* * *

 _Later that night..._

Meeting his fellow Guardians was strange, but the way they automatically accepted him as part of the group was nice. Even if the Mist creeped him out and the Cloud was rather vicious.

Reborn made sure to pull him aside once the dinner was over to explain things to him.

"Since you're going to be staying here for a while I'll explain how things work. Like why everyone took you in so quickly without a word."

Hayato was relieved. That had confused him to no end.

"There is a group in the underworld that is lead by the Mist Arcobaleno. It's reach extends to the magical enclaves and is known around the world as a force to be reckoned with if it's ire is awakened. It's known simply as the Black clan."

Hayato's eyes widened in recognition. He had heard about the Black clan. A large family (not familigia, because the Matriarch had little desire to deal with that nonsense) that had a habit of taking in strays and giving them a home.

Reborn pulled out something from his jacket. It was a family crest that Hayato recognized instantly as the Crest of the Black family.

"I'm considered a 'Knight' of the Black family, though I don't advertise it. It means I'm considered one of them, even if I'm not technically family. Tsuna, however, is the adopted grandson of the matriarch. Romeo is his Knight as are Takeshi and Ryohei. Kyouya, Mukuro and Chrome are her grandchildren."

"Who is the matriarch?" asked Hayato. Because that was one of the big questions for the lower ranks. No one was entirely aware who the Matriarch was or how they picked the strays they took in as family.

"Mammon of the Varia, though she also goes by Viper of the Arcobaleno. I can give you an overview of the family tree and the hierarchy for the inevitable gathering once the news spreads about Tsuna being picked as Decimo."

Hayato nodded, still reeling in shock. He had been picked specifically by one of the Arcobaleno... someone who had taken over the position of the Mist Officer in the _Varia_.

"The Black clan have a simple creed. Family Before Familigia, though the alternate version is Family Above Familigia. The official motto of the family is _Toujours Pur_ - _Always Pure_."

"Always Pure to what?"

"The Black family is originally a magical family from England. A _pure blood_ family, one steeped in dark magic. You do the math," said Reborn.

Hayato grimaced at the implications. A pure blood magical family who practiced dark magic... yeah, he could see how badly that could go considering the Blood Purges several decades ago.

"Viper was the one who ended the Purges once and for all, but that part of her has been left buried permanently. Considering the damage done to her and her Flames, she reinvented herself and later the entire Family. It's now considered one of the premiere bloodlines in Europe, both magical, mundane and mafia. You were considered for Tsuna's Storm once a pattern became evident that couldn't be ignored, particularly the implications of it."

"Pattern?"

Reborn knew from experience (and Viper's own success) that blunt truth worked best in these situations.

"These... are the Primo's Guardians when he first established the Vongola," said Reborn. "And this was the previous picture of Tsuna's Guardians until you arrived. Notice anything?"

He made sure to hand Hayato a mirror, though the boy was confused until he started noticing something.

The pictures were almost identical, save for a few minor details. Looking in the mirror and then at the Vongola Storm, he saw the similarities.

"You're saying I was picked because of a resemblance to the Primo's Storm?"

"You were _found_ because of the resemblance. It was only because of the high praise Colonello had of you and the psychological profile that Viper had done that you were _considered_ for the position as Tsuna's Storm," corrected Reborn. He made sure to empathize that while Hayato had been selected as a potential Storm, it was his own merits that gained him the chance to become a Guardian. "Right now the position is still open. It's entirely your choice if you wish to become one of Tsuna's Guardians and by extension a potential member of the Black family. Viper has a particular habit of taking in abandoned strays and bringing out their full potential."

She had a unique ability to take in the lost, the broken, and those who simply needed someone to be there and making them her own. Xanxus was a glowing example of how easily she could convert the loyalty of the "bastard" son of the Vongola into one of her own.

What made it so terrifying was that she didn't need Sky Flames to do it either. She did it simply by acting as a mother or a grandmother to those who needed one.

Hayato laid in the bunk bed, head still reeling from the information dump he had been given.

Finding out the real reason he had been 'tapped' for extensive training from Colonello personally had been a shock, but that was nothing when he found out the truth about the Black Clan.

The question was... was he brave enough to take his own destiny by the reigns and make a leap of faith?

Thoughts of family brought his mind to Bianchi and he grimaced.

All the rumors he heard about the Black family said that they took care of their own and treated them as something sacred. Something that was not only treasured, but to be protected no matter what.

Whereas his family... Yeah, he could do a lot worse. But he wanted to see for himself what the clan was about before he made any rash decisions. The Rain had beaten that much into him, and he wasn't sure he was happy that he had been found just because he happened to look almost identical to the Primo's Storm Guardian.


	19. Chapter 19

The Black Gathering (which was all in capital letters mostly for posterity or some nonsense) was _loud_. It was nothing like the solemn affairs he was used to.

It was about as far as you could get from a traditional mafia party as you could possibly be. Oh, there were some discreet dealings but that was mostly on the side behind privacy charms and Mist barriers. And they were usually concluded within ten minutes and the people cheerfully returning to the Gathering.

Tsuna gleefully jumped in and went to visit cousins, aunts and uncles with practiced ease. Hayato was completely out of his depth.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's always like this," said Takeshi, smiling for real.

"It's very Extreme!" agreed Ryohei, who had brought along his sister Kyoko.

"It's...lively."

Takeshi chuckled.

"It's more of a family reunion meant to share big news than any social event. They happen at least a few times a year, mostly to keep the family appraised of all the latest gossip. Come on, I'll introduce you to some people," said Takeshi.

He had been shocked his first Gathering as well, but had quickly grown used to it. Takeshi could tell the poor half-Italian was nervous as hell. He looped an arm around Hayato's shoulder, hitting him with a _light_ dose of Rain Flames.

"Relax. This is a party and most are here to have fun. You don't need to pretend or act formal. Just be yourself and you'll be fine. After all, the Matriarch loves pranks, so it's unlikely you'll somehow cause a disaster by accident."

Hayato looked miserable at the idea. Like a kicked puppy. He didn't notice the frown on the face of a certain Mist nearby, simply observing with her husband next to her.

"I'm terrified of making a bad impression."

This was the _Black_ clan after all. They had a LOT of influence over in Europe and a decent influence over Asia.

Takeshi thought about using more Rain, but the only way Hayato would relax was to let him be.

"Try getting some food for starters," he suggested.

Hayato wandered around, feeling out of place with the way people greeted him warmly and some by name. Hearing the genuine interest in him was really throwing him for a loop.

He was the barely tolerated bastard son, not fit for anything save to "play" piano and to be Bianchi's unofficial guinea pig for her poison cooking.

He couldn't stand to look at her anymore without cringing with remembered pain for the years of hell she put him through.

"Mu. You look a bit lost," said a voice.

It was a toddler, likely one of the Arcobaleno. He couldn't see the pacifier color so he had no idea which one they were.

"A bit," he admitted. He didn't feel like he fit in at all.

"No one ever does, especially when they're brought in from the Mafia," said the floating toddler. "Take Xanxus for instance. He was the bastard son and the barely tolerated fourth heir of the Vongola, and it still took him two years before he actually took to the idea that he had been given a real family. Even Belphegor over there was unused to being around others who accepted him for who he was and not what they demanded he should be."

And hadn't that been a mess. Viper had kept him calm, but it still took a few Gatherings before he gleefully accepted his place in the family as her adopted son.

Hayato saw the Varia Sky and Storm. They looked like they were relaxed, like they felt they belonged. He felt a gentle pat on the head.

"No one said you have to fit in right away. It took Mukuro several months before he realized we weren't going to abandon him or his brothers to the mafia again. And that was before they accidentally stumbled on his half-sister. Even if you did somehow misbehave, one of the adults would simply take you aside until you calmed down and were ready to socialize again."

"I still can't believe I was picked because of a stupid resemblance."

"You may have been found because of it, but it was your own efforts that made you the first choice as Tsuna's possible Storm. So long as you're loyal to him, you'll have no problems with the clan. After all, you can't _possibly_ be as rambunctious as Kyouya or Mukuro when they get into one of their play fights."

Hayato grimaced. He had seen those two go at it earlier.

"And don't get me started on what a headache Belphegor can be in one of his snits. Even Xanxus loses his temper sometimes and starts tossing the cheap glasses at people. Just learn to duck and you'll do fine."

"Who are you anyway?" asked Hayato.

The figure grinned.

"I believe you know me as 'Matriarch', though I go by Viper, Mammon or even Nonna."

Hayato gaped in shock. Viper chuckled and left the stunned Storm to his own devices.

It took another hour or two, but Hayato finally relaxed and acted like the child he was. Xanxus had huffed after seeing his mother wander over to the baby Storm and had known that she would inevitably adopt him as another grandson.

The boy was almost broken by the mafia, but once his loyalty was secure it was absolute. Now they just had to wait for him to bond with the little tiger as most of the family insisted on calling Tsuna, and he would be one of them.

He wondered if the Vongola was ready for the Black clan. It wasn't like Viper had gone out of her way to hide.

Either way it was going to be a hell of a ride seeing the chaos that she was going to inflict on the familigia through Tsuna. He couldn't wait.

"Shishishi... this is going to be fun," snickered Belphegor.

"If you ask nicely you know she'll let you bring a camera," he grinned at his Storm/little brother.

"Shishishi."

* * *

"The great Lambo-sama is here!" announced a little boy who looked like a little cow.

Reborn sighed in annoyance, inwardly cursing the Bovino familigia for their sheer stupidity when it came to Lambo. The brat was a menace who insisted on trying to kill him ever since his uncle told him that to be recognized as heir he had to kill Reborn.

It didn't take much for the little Bovino to become upset at being ignored and pull out something very interesting indeed.

Romeo came in to investigate the noise...only to come face to face with a green-eyed version of himself wearing cow print of all things.

"Hello dad. The effect's last for five minutes so I'll be brief. Be sure to bring lots of cameras because the second Iemitsu finds out Uncle Xanxus is back he's going to do something very stupid," said the teen with a lazy drawl.

"What..." started Romeo, still in shock at his doppelganger.

Reborn grinned.

When the Ten Year Bazooka wore off, Romeo found himself with a five year old little boy and more confusion than he knew what to do with. He actually fainted from shock.

"What just happened?" asked Hayato.

"We're going to do a blood test between your Lightning and the cow brat, and the Bovino are about to get a very unpleasant meeting with Viper," said Reborn.

"Don't DNA tests take days to complete?" asked Hayato.

"Magical ones take about ten minutes, give or take. A few drops of blood and you get an entire ancestry for at least two hundred years or for the past fifty generations, depending on the potion used. It's more accurate than a simple DNA test to boot," explained Tsuna.

It's how they found out Xanxus _was_ a Vongola by blood, but not by anyone recent enough that he could potentially claim the rings unless there were literally no other options. Viper had done it to help him find out who his biological father was. The only issue was that such potions were a pain in the ass to make.

Luckily Jasmine had a gift with making them.

Reborn was already ordering a small vial of the potion from Jasmine, while Romeo found himself having to deal with a hyper five year old who had a bad habit of flinging explosives _everywhere_.

A few days later it was confirmed... Lambo was in fact Romeo's son. He was also a very active, hyper Lightning.

Reborn was thanking every god he could that they had noticed that damn pattern early on and snagged Romeo first for Tsuna's Lightning. The idea of forcing a _child_ to take that role made him sick inside. And with how stupid Iemitsu was, he could believe the man would be callous enough to pull something like that.

Besides, they saved Romeo from a rather nasty end courtesy of Bianchi, who apparently switched her focus to Reborn for some bizarre reason.

He almost wished he could be there when Viper went to the Bovino familigia and chewed out the Don. That was sure to be hilarious.

* * *

There were many things that any sane mafioso would dread.

Drawing the ire of the Black Matriarch was on the top of that short list, though it came close to pissing off the Vindice.

Which is why when the Bovino don saw the tiny Mist Arcobaleno come into his office with a frown, he knew he was in for it.

"Would you mind explaining to me why you sent a _five year old_ after Reborn of all people?" they asked patiently, though it was clear they were _pissed._ "And why the boy was able to enter Japan without a single minder with actual weapons and grenades?"

Oh shit. If there was one thing that was well known to the underworld, it was that Mammon of the Varia considered children sacred.

"He's still alive, right?"

"Only because his _**father**_ happened to be living in the house he attempted to attack Reborn in," said Viper coldly. "Romeo has agreed to take custody of his son, since you lot are unfit to raise the boy."

The don winced. Viper was definitely _pissed_.

And he was about to get hit with a nasty tongue lashing from the infamous Mothering Mist for sending a child after Reborn, alone, without proper minders or at the very least knowledge of how to use a _gun_ correctly.

He was so screwed.

* * *

Viper is not in a good mood, and all of it could be tied down to one simple fact.

She had just rescued Fuuta de la Stella, aka the Ranking Prince, from a particularly dense familigia who attempted to abscond with the child and his precious book.

Fortunately for Fuuta, and unfortunately for the Todd familigia, Mammon happened to be finished up an assignment with Belphegor at the time and saw the boy running from obvious mafioso.

Mammon had taken one look at the scene, grabbed the child and then told the most ominous words in history when it came to Belphegor.

"Have fun."

Belphegor's smile was positively evil, especially since he knew Mammon was hiding the massacre from civilian sight and from the boy's view.

"Hello little one," said Mammon gently.

Fuuta was panting, exhausted. Once he managed to get his breath back, he looked at the Mist with slight fear in his eyes. Mammon was glad for Fantasma, because that was the only reason she didn't float uncontrollably.

"Viper, aka Mammon of the Varia. Ranked number one as the strongest witch in living history. Ranked number one for adopting strays and giving them proper homes. Ranked number one for converting potential threats into allies. Ranked number one as the most maternal mafioso. Ranked number two at accepting requests from children in need."

"Shishishi... he certainly has you pegged Mammy~" snickered Belphegor.

Fuuta blinked and things fell down again.

"Mu. A pity we can't take you back to base with us," said Mammon, patting Fuuta on the head. "Fortunately I know _exactly_ what to do with you, little one."

She was going to adopt Fuuta in as another member of the family and send him to stay with Tsuna. Nana certainly wouldn't mind having another little one to spoil, and it meant that Fuuta would be well protected by several very overprotective "big brothers" and uncles.

Fuuta hugged his book closer.

"Come along little one. With any luck you'll be in Namimori and settled in before the week is out. No child should have to fear for their lives because of their gifts, especially one who had theirs given too early like yourself," said Mammon.

Fuuta stuck close to Mammon. He could sense that while she was often grumpy she was very nice.

"Shishishi... are we getting another little brother soon?"

"Depends on whether he wants to be adopted by me or Nana," said Mammon. Fuuta was sleeping like a kitten on the plane, curled up against Mammon. He was also clutching his book very tightly to himself.

Xanxus didn't even ask, seeing the kid.

"Namimori?" he said.

"I'm leaving him in Nana's care. He's too valuable to the familigias to risk keeping him in the Varia, and he hasn't stained his hands yet," said Mammon. Xanxus nodded.

Fuuta almost shrinks when he sees Xanxus. Except the Wrath was partial to kids, so his aura isn't nearly as scary.

"Let's see the trash try to take something from the Black Clan and get away with it," he said with dark promise.

Fuuta's eyes become glazed. Things begin to float...and he immediately started writing things down.

The Black Clan was even _more_ influential than the Vongola, despite being so "young". Though that had more to do with the fact that Nono was clearly slipping, whereas Viper was a force of nature when she put her mind to it. Her contacts had contacts that had even more contacts, and mafioso _liked_ dealing with known factors.

And it was known that if Viper gave her word, then you could trust it. That, and her habit of taking in strays (which the mafia had a _lot_ of) and giving them good homes and decent jobs where they wouldn't have to worry about a knife in the back meant that people trusted the Black clan.

It didn't hurt that they weren't an actual _familigia_ , and that they were strictly neutral.

Familigias always had an agenda, whether people knew it or not.

The Black clan was a _family_ first, an organization second.

Fuuta rather liked the idea of being part of a big, overprotective family that took care of it's members. Especially when he met Tsuna. The nine year old took to the Sawada home very quickly.


	20. Chapter 20

Mammon didn't even look up when the door opened and a blond head of hair slunk in like a wet cat who had been forcibly given a bath.

She said nothing, merely created a territory that would allow her to finish her accounting and still be there for the spoiled prince.

Belphegor was silent, before he promptly curled up in her lap.

There was a reason why Mammon's pet name for him was "kitten".

He stretched out a bit, like a cat in the sun, before curling up against her. If he started purring she would not be the least bit surprised.

Her free hand carded through his hair, causing a real smile...not the insane one he usually had on... to spread on his face.

"Mammy..."

"Just rest, silly kitten. I will still be here when you wake," she said gently.

Belphegor was broken inside. He had been more or less ignored in favor of his 'older' brother and barely tolerated. The spare prince no one cared about.

It was part of the reason he acted out so much. Coming to the Varia might have ruined some of his innocence, but it had saved his soul. Or at least Xanxus had, by partnering the spoiled brat with Mammon the first chance he had.

Mammon had taken something broken, and given him a place where he could slowly piece his heart back together.

Belphegor slowly fell into a light sleep, his defenses completely down. He knew without a doubt that Mammon would keep him safe. That she would never hurt or abandon him.

Mammon began humming something, just a random song that popped into her head.

Xanxus popped his head in.

"He's getting worse," he commented quietly.

"Twins are not meant to be torn asunder. After what happened with his brother, he'll never be fully whole. But he has gotten better."

Belphegor was terrified of being cast aside. Of being abandoned a second time. And while he didn't show it normally, he tended to latch on to people.

Bonding with Xanxus as his Sky had stabilized his soul from when he lost his twin. Bonding with Mammon had made that even stronger, both because she was a Sky as well, but also because she gave him something his own parents hadn't.

The unconditional love of a mother. Of _family_.

The Black family, following her lead, had accepted him and his quirks without hesitation.

Of course after reading some of the exploits of the more notable Blacks, he was downright tame. There was a reason why Mukuro's blood lust had been accepted so easily.

Belphegor cuddled closer to Mammon instinctively.

She had a gentle smile on her face. If there was one thing Mammon had a soft spot for, it was the children who were lost or broken in some way that needed someone to be there, if only to listen.

"What do you need?"

"I want you to drop the spell around me that's keeping the main house from realizing I'm out."

Mammon frowned.

"I do that and Iemitsu is likely to try something, never mind Nono."

"Not right away. Once it's confirmed Tsuna has properly harmonized with his new Storm and they've had a few months to get used to each other. I want to make sure they're the right fit before they take the Rings, and it'll be the perfect time to reveal he's alive," said Xanxus.

"Now that we can do. Want me to warn Reborn about our plan? Once I do this, a lot of things are going to change."

"Like I care. The Vongola screwed the pooch when the old man was picked. It's about time for an older, stronger family to take control and set things right."

Tsuna was a member of the Black Clan. Which meant when he took over the reigns of the Vongola, they would have control of it through him.

Xanxus snorted. When that got out it was sure to cause a major fuss, if only because people actually believed the Vongola to be the strongest.

He didn't know what caused the Secundo to be such an idiot, but he found the Black clan's motto to be better.

Family Before Familigia.

A family was always stronger than a familigia, if only because it meant they acted as one even if they disagreed with each other. They might not talk to one another, or would argue like cats and dogs during reunions, but when it came down to it the Blacks were examples of true Slytherins, as his mother put it.

You can bitch about your family all you want, but in the face of an enemy you stand together. Just like the Slytherin house might be a bunch of backstabbing bastards in the privacy of their tower, but on the outside they presented a united front.

The sorting hat always said that Viper would have done well in Slytherin.

* * *

It was official. Iemitsu was a complete idiot and he was taking the whole of the Vongola down with him.

By this point even his _wife_ had deemed him a lost cause. Shortly after the spells hiding Xanxus from being discovered (and seeing Timoteo's _face_ when he realized his "son" had properly aged, which meant he hadn't spent a single _day_ in the ice like he assumed was hilarious) Iemitsu took the rings belonging to CEDEF and more or less blackmailed Dino of the Chiavarone familigia into sending them Tsuna's way.

The boy didn't even have two years of torture...er, _tutoring_ from Reborn yet. There was no way a 'civilian' would stand a chance in hell against Xanxus or the Varia.

Under any other circumstances, Xanxus would have kidnapped his father and dragged him to Japan.

Instead he sent Mammon in to explain to the old man clearly what was going to happen and why they were 'escorting' him to Japan to get this mess cleared up once and for all. And maybe if Timoteo was lucky, he would still have a son at the end of it because Xanxus was still pissed about the near miss with the stunt the old man pulled when he confronted him about his adoption.

Timoteo went calmly with Mammon along with Coyote, clearly wondering what the Mist had planned now.

He was well hidden by the Varia, or at least by Levi's bulk as Xanxus "confronted" Tsunayoshi in Namimori.

Needless to say he was greatly surprised by the so-called missive that was handed from Iemitsu to Tsuna and Xanxus.

Xanxus opened it up and smirked, but not for the reasons Iemitsu believed. Then again the idiot didn't know his own wife was there in the eaves under Chrome's illusions waiting to spring divorce papers on him. Nana had gladly accepted Mammon's offer of help when it came to giving that fool a wake up call, especially since he was clearly setting his own son up to die.

Seeing the Cervello, Xanxus smirk turned to a frown.

"Who called you assholes in?"

"We were informed of a Scramble Battle to commence," said one of the 'identical' members of that group.

Xanxus motioned to the old man, who stepped out from behind Levi.

"Well there's clearly been a communication error, because _I_ never authorized that the half-rings be sent. And I certainly didn't write that letter," said Timoteo frowning openly at Iemitsu.

The Cervello and Iemitsu openly paused at seeing Vongola Nono standing there with the Varia. Mammon smirked at Iemitsu coldly.

"You didn't really think I would allow such a farce to continue when all we needed to prove this 'order' was a fake was to kidnap the real thing and show him what you've been doing in the shadows, did you?" said Mammon smugly. "Then again, I've been suspicious ever since I first felt your flames and noticed your distinct lack of empathy when it comes to your 'son', much less the fact that you have yet to call a single Guardian to you."

Timoteo looked at Mammon questioningly.

"The fool is an Inverted Sky. Or am I the only one who finds it odd that he has no guardians and openly asked for a child who only recently went Flame Active to be put under a full seal, when he only needed a little training until he was old enough to decide for himself?"

Timoteo frowned. Now that she mentioned it, it was strange that Iemitsu's first reaction to seeing his son's flames was to demand that they be sealed off. And he had given the man plenty of opportunity to visit his family, but he only took it once every five or so years. And only for a week.

There was also the rumor that he had spawned a bastard son while married to his wife, but it was never properly confirmed. Basil looked far too much like Iemitsu to be a proper coincidence, Rain flames or not.

"How do we know that's really Nono, and not some cheap Mist trick?" demanded Iemitsu.

Xanxus glared at him. However that glare turned to a cold smirk when someone came up from behind Iemitsu and pinned his ass to the ground.

"Nice job... brother," said Xanxus.

"After the asskicking you and the rest of the Varia gave me to put me in proper shape, I should hope so!" said Federico crossly. Three of his Guardians had their guns trained on Iemitsu, while the others were keeping CEDEF from coming anywhere near the man.

Timoteo dropped his cane in shock, only for his head to whip towards Tsuna when he cheerfully called out "Hi, uncle Rico!"

"Impossible! Federico died!" said Iemitsu, though he was pretty pale at this point.

"Please, you think we couldn't fake his death when I heard there was an assassination attempt on his life?" scoffed Mammon. "Easier to kidnap him and let it play out so he can have a proper set of Guardians while he's in hiding so he can see for himself exactly how low the Vongola has fallen, then to let him die. And he's the one doing most of the training with Tsuna's Sky Flames, since Xanxus can't always be here to supervise training."

Timoteo looked at his last son like he was a ghost, and noted the full compliment of Guardians by his side not fully wary but still alert.

Then again he didn't know this was Black territory now, rather than Vongola. Had no idea that Mammon had slowly but surely bought out the land and all the buildings and most of the businesses around it until any influence the Vongola had were either dead or driven off.

Meh, he'd find out eventually.

The Cervello were silently, but clear contempt and irritation started drifting Iemitsu's way. They would find out who sent the fake report of a Scramble Battle between the Vongola heirs and there would be _hell_ to pay.

* * *

 _Three hours later..._

Iemitsu was beyond the dog house and deep in a pile of shit that not even GOD would be able to climb out of...to quote Squalo anyway.

His wife was divorcing him, his son would openly and _loudly_ deny any relation to him, he was now jobless and the main kicker?

Vongola Nono was going to remove him as External Adviser the second he returned to Italy because of how badly Iemitsu screwed up in his duties. At least, once he got over the shock that Federico was very much alive, and with a full set of Guardians only because Viper of the Arcobaleno had decided to intervene.

And wasn't that a massive shock...learning that _Viper_ was in fact the matriarch of a family (not familigia, as he was often and repeatedly reminded by his men) that had slowly started to spread it's feelers world wide.

By now there were only a few countries Viper didn't have their claws in, and if they ever decided to become a proper mafia family it would easily dwarf the Vongola _and_ the Alliance in size, power, and influence.

Who knew her habit of adopting strays would lead to this?

Timoteo took a long pull of brandy, before inwardly wincing at what a mess it had all become.

Though he could safely say _when_ it started to spiral out of control.

The day he thought he could cow Viper when she was tutoring his son into backing off on the whole "tell Xanxus he was adopted or else" incident.

That was the same day Viper basically bitch-slapped him with her full Flames... including the ones she never bothered to use, which had caught him entirely off guard. Before then he had never deemed the woman a threat...but the sheer level of pissed off Sky that sent him flying had him reevaluating that thought.

Then the little things started to become big, until they disappeared into the shadows.

Now that he thought about it, he did vaguely recall sensing Viper in the area that day he 'sealed' Tsuna's Flames only to dismiss it because he had no idea what the woman would be doing in Namimori.

Finding out that Tsuna's Cloud Guardian was her grandson explained a lot.

It was actually a relief to know that his family wasn't going to end up crashing and burning because of the first and only person to rival him in power stepped in and actually _did_ something to prevent it.

Xanxus loved the Vongola (though not the Ninth Generation... Timoteo would honestly say that bridge was more or less burnt), so by extension Viper did everything in her power to keep the _family_ alive and safe.

After all, she had practically adopted Xanxus herself when he allowed her in. She was the closest thing he had to a mother since he was removed from the slums.

Just seeing the small amount of the Black Gathering (which had convened purely to celebrate the fact Iemitsu was getting what he had long since coming to him) was enough for Timoteo. He didn't even care at this point that his sons, almost-grandson and pretty much all their Guardians were now members of the Black clan.

He could safely say the Vongola was in much better hands, and would be when Tsuna finally took over. Learning Federico had more or less handed over his right to the rings to the boy in exchange for acting as his External Adviser was a relief, as was the fact Xanxus had no objections since he was happier in the Varia and taking out the traitors.

Though it probably helped a lot that Timoteo's first act after expelling Iemitsu from the Vongola family (both in name and association, with eyes on someone to clean out the mess that was CEDEF) was to give Mammon and Xanxus carte blanche to clean out the familigia of all the traitors and rats.

If Iemitsu had blindsided him this long there was no telling exactly _how_ bad off the familigia actually was and he hadn't noticed.


	21. Chapter 21

When Tsuna ended up in the future and saw exactly how bad off it was, his first reaction was "Where's Obaa-sama?"

His second reaction, upon learning of the radiation killing off the Arcobaleno (it had taken out Reborn! That alone was terrifying!) was to worry about his adopted Grandmother and the others.

The final straw came when Future Hibari didn't bite him for grabbing his sleeve and demanding to know what happened to Viper since he didn't believe one bit about the woman killing herself in despair.

Viper was more stubborn than any other person he knew. If there was ever a point that she was _that_ suicidal or depressed, it was long before she met the other Arcobaleno and brought the Black clan back to the strongest it had ever been. She would _not_ kill herself, not while the family was still there to support their matriarch.

Hibari looked at Tsuna when he said this, eyes wide with realization, before he calmly lead the entire group deeper into his section of the base and revealed a capsule.

Inside it was a silver haired woman with pale skin, familiar markings on her face, and a gaunt figure. It was the face that had Tsuna crying in horror and worry.

He knew that face anywhere.

"What happened to Obaa-sama?" he asked, looking at Hibari with worry.

Hibari...no, Kyouya, sighed.

"Losing Fon was bad enough, but being unable to save Colonello was the last straw. She ripped out most of her Mist and shoved it into the pacifier before teleporting here with the last of her strength. I found her in the garden and you put her under a revised Zero Point Breakthrough so she would live until we found a way to fix this mess. The only ones who know she's still alive are your future self, Xanxus and me. Everyone was kept in the dark so that Byakruran wouldn't find out and kill her, since she was a major thorn in his plans."

"Why is she in her adult size?" asked Reborn.

"Because whatever she did to rip off her Mist caused the Pacifier to fall off and revert her to her previous age when she was cursed. We put her under almost immediately when the Mist twins couldn't stop the hemorrhaging of her flames."

Losing so much of her Mist nearly killed her, and if not for the fact it was only her Secondary she would have been dead. As it was, she was hanging on only barely at this point.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I've been combining my flames with Ryohei's to give her an even balance of Sun, Mist and Cloud. Even with Mukuro and Chrome's help it was barely enough to keep her stable. If we had someone stronger to share Flames with her..."

Reborn hadn't even hesitated, and neither did Lal.

"Try using ours," they said.

Tsuna was quick to share his Flames, as did a much younger Chrome and Mukuro when they showed up (Mukuro had the Mist ring, though Chrome did the paperwork and acted as Tsuna's secretary). Between their flames and the sheer amount of magic they were also adding into it, Viper went from "barely stable" to something closer to "functional". Though she was still going to be hemorrhaging her Flames as her magic was barely keeping at stopper in the missing hole where her Mist was. The added bonds were going to keep more of them in, but it wouldn't be enough.

It was with baited breath that they released her from the capsule Verde had made before his death, which Tsuna had used to keep her alive until now.

She looked tired. So very weak and frail. Her hair no longer had any color, but was closer to Squalo's silvery color than black or the occasional hint of red. (It was something of an inside joke that Viper was a closet red head. The one time she bleached it, it came out a vibrant red that had Fon smug for weeks.)

The only thing that was missing to show her real age was the wrinkles. Despite her somewhat youthful appearance, Viper was well into her sixties and approaching seventy fast.

Witches, particularly those of the Black family, tended to age well enough that it was difficult to say how old they really were after forty and that wasn't helped by the Arcobaleno curse.

Viper smiled tiredly as she accepted Tsuna's hug and Kyouya's relieved smile. He would hug her later in private...he missed his grandmother.

But it's the reaction of Squalo and Belphegor when they call the base that said volumes.

Belphegor completely dropped his arrogant attitude the second he saw her face and started openly crying.

" _You're alive? I knew it! I told the boss there was no way you would die that easily, Mammy!"_

It was pretty obvious that the Ripper Prince was going to make a beeline to Namimori, war with the Millifiore be damned, the second he found out where Mammon was.

Next to Xanxus, her grandchildren (which included Tsuna), Belphegor had always been close to her.

Hibari rolled his eyes.

"Give me a text when you're in the vicinity of Japan and I'll deliver you and Squalo straight here. You'll be in charge of making sure Obaa-sama stays put, since she still has those bad habits of hers," said Kyouya.

" _Shishishi... As if you needed to ask!"_ said Belphegor with glee. He wanted his Mammy back.

Within a week Belphegor and Squalo were in the base. Within seconds Belphegor was hugging Mammon and there was no sign of him letting go.

"You left," he said with a broken voice.

"I was dying, and I knew that if I didn't do something then I would have left all of you alone," said Viper quietly, patting him weakly on the head. Most of her strength was being used to keep herself conscious. "And going back would have meant exposing weakness."

Weakness in the Varia was a call sign to the lower ranks that they could rise to "officer" if they played their cards right and took out the current one. And given how weak she was when she lost her Mist, she would have been dead within days.

Faking her death was by far a better option.

Belphegor was cuddling with her and definitely not letting her go anywhere.

He always reminded her of a particularly proud Kneazle.

Tsuna said nothing about the interaction... he understood _completely_ where the Storm Officer was coming from, and he wasn't nearly as close to her as Xanxus was.

As it was Tsuna would forever have the mental image of a large cat, possibly a tiger or panther, whenever he looked at Belphegor. The way he was curling up against Viper just screamed "large predatory cat" to him.

In fact he would openly swear to anyone who asked that he heard the man actually _purring_ as Viper ran her fingers through his hair, careful not to dislodge his crown.

Tsuna had also noted a long time ago that when Belphegor called Viper "Mammy", it sounded far more like he was calling her "mommy".

Hearing Viper hum seemed to sooth most of his worries and relax everyone in the room.

"Why didn't you use your animagus form, Obaa-sama?" asked Kyouya.

"If I did, then it's an almost guarantee that I would undergo a burning day and that meant risking cutting off whatever connection I have to the other Arcobaleno...including Fon. It would forcibly reconnect me with my Mist flames, but I will not risk losing whatever bonds I have just to save myself. Even if it would remove the curse from me completely."

Reborn and Lal stopped and stared at her.

"What."

"I could have removed the Arcobaleno curse from me from the very beginning. I just chose not to because it wouldn't have been fair to any of you and would run the risk of losing the Guardian bond. I would rather live and die with my Guardians than save my own skin," said Viper simply.

"What do you mean you could have broken your own curse! How?" said Lal upset.

Viper sighed.

"I'm a phoenix animagus, and with that comes the ability to undergo a burning day. I get an extended life span, a limited ability to heal considering my exposure to basilisk venom when I was twelve, and I can teleport damn near anywhere so long as I have a reference point and it can't be easily blocked. Do you know why a phoenix is considered an immortal bird?"

Reborn blinked, before he got it.

"You would die and be reborn from the ashes of your old body, thus removing all ailments, impurities, or curses."

"Like I said, it ran the risk of cutting the bond off since I wasn't sure if it was strong enough to withstand the fires of a burning day. That...and I wasn't about to risk that bastard Checkerface finding out I could have potentially thrown a wrench into his ridiculous system because he was too damn lazy to make it work properly. He could have stopped me and I'm not about to challenge a demi-god. It would take something major for me to do a magically binding ceremony to insure these damn pacifiers _all_ fell off when I go under a burning day," said Viper flatly.

"...Demi-god?"

"He's not properly worshiped or acknowledged and I have yet to find any references to Arcobaleno or this damn curse in any magical history texts and believe me I've looked extensively on any I could get my hands on. For all I know the bastard is a remnant of Atlantis who decided to do something about the collapsing leylines around the world and failed to do it properly. Which means he's either a pure blood with delusions of godhood or a failed god who lost a good chunk of his power and is now stuck with demi-god status," said Viper without a hint of hesitation. Her face scowled. "That idiot wouldn't know what hit him if he actually did something to piss me off enough that I would confront him for the crap he's put us through. Until I know what the final effects of the curse are I'm withholding my judgment on the matter."

Hayato latched onto one fact.

"Atlantis was real?" he asked, perking up.

Viper chuckled.

"Real and capsized because one of their leaders was on a power trip, went mad and tried to kill anyone without magic, and then in a great big 'fuck you' to the people trying to stop him decided to take the whole magical continent with him to the grave. Merlin was one of the survivors, though there's no clear indication as to what really happened to his body. There's no clear consensus as to what the old bastard looked like, only that he was magically powerful, old as hell even before Atlantis sunk, and that he helped to raise the four founders of Hogwarts before he vanished."

Hayato looked like he wanted to ask so many questions.

Viper looked at him tiredly.

"Ask my younger self to look into the family library for the history books. Odds are she won't care much if you happen to find something interesting. Those that do no learn from history..."

"Are doomed to repeat it," said Hayato, understanding the hidden meaning.

Viper sat down and a full body shudder went through her.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Tsuna with open concern.

"You need to finish this, soon. I won't last a month, even with the donation of Flames. If the others are revived, I can attempt to remove their pacifiers once you leave and hopefully rid myself of this. Though I doubt my hair will go back to the way it was. No doubt there will be consequences of what I'm planning as well."

"What are you going to do?" asked Reborn, already sharing his own Sun Flames with her. It helped to stabilize her condition, but he could tell she was running on borrowed time. Time that was rapidly running out.

"Considering the state of this world, it's doomed anyway. Without the Tri-Ni-Sette being in the state of balance, things are either going to get worse or fall apart completely. I wouldn't be surprised if it was destroyed and this future removed from the timelines."

Tsuna was wide eyed with horror.

"What about our world?"

"Your time will be fine. The balance between the three sides is still existing, even if you were temporally displaced. However I noticed before that our time as Arcobaleno is coming to an end, fast. And that means the Administrator will start moving again."

"What exactly do the pacifiers do?" asked Tsuna seriously.

"Essentially they are conduits. They drain a steady supply of one specific Flame from each victim, with Sky having to deal with the drain _and_ keeping the other six from being drained too quickly...it's why they tend to die first, and are passed along before the current set is too old to maintain them. The problem is that when they are about to be passed on, the pacifiers will create one _massive_ drain on the Flames, which will kill the ones holding them. I have no idea if any survived or not, but I have my suspicions considering I got a good look at the Vindice when they came to claim Mukuro from me."

Reborn didn't like the sound of that at all.

Tsuna however looked thoughtful.

"What if enough Flames were donated so that when the pacifiers fell off, the vessel wasn't completely empty?"

Viper smiled at him.

"Now you're thinking along the right track. There's a reason I was waiting for the Administrator to get involved before I forced the pacifiers to chose new hosts."

"You can flood them until they fall off," said Reborn, staring at her.

"A phoenix is neither alive nor dead, especially during a burning day. I can sacrifice more than enough Sky Flames to flood the pacifiers so you're merely knocked out when they are finally removed, rather than killed. The issue is that such magic _always_ comes at a price."

"I knew you were a closet _Once Upon A Time_ fan!" said Tsuna.

It did a splendid job of breaking the tension.

"Regina is hot," chuckled Belphegor.

"I prefer Hook, though I will admit she does have good taste," said Viper without thinking. "And I completely empathize with Swan... that woman's happiness gets screwed over as much as mine did before I changed my name."

"Obaa-sama... can we break the curse and save Reborn and the others?" asked Tsuna.

"If we can get through this long enough to send you lot home, I have strong hopes we might. A Black never backs down from a challenge, especially the crap this damn curse has put us through. And if not... well, at least I'll be with Fon and the others again. I trust your other self to be able to hold everyone together, if only until everything settles into a new normal."

Reborn frowned.

"I thought Tsuna was killed."

Viper's grin was evil.

"He's _my_ grandson. You really think we wouldn't come up with plans on top of plans? He's sleeping under the Draught of the Living Death right now, waiting for his younger self to clean up the mess."

"Which is the only reason none of us have gone into Discord," Hibari added dryly. "Though he is going to get a tongue-lashing from the others for his prank."


End file.
